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SKETCHES 


OF  THE 


MSS’ 


OF 

MARYLAND. 


g***.1.1*1 11  1 ....  ' i 

m THOMAS  W.  GRIFFITH-  tt 


BALTIMORE  t 

Printed  and  Published  by  Frederick  G.  Schaeffer, 


1821* 

BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS, 


District  of  Maryland !,  s.  s . 

tf  rrmrmhrrrh  tw  fin  Hi  A AlIvllBl  llup  nf 


ed  States  of  America,  THOMAS  W.  GRIFFITH,  of  said  Dis- 
trict, hath  Deposited  in  this  Office  the  title  of  a Book,  the  right  whereof  he 
claims  as  Author  in  the  words  following,  to  wit : 

“ Sketches  of  the  Early  History  of  Maryland,  by  Thomas  JV.  Griffith” 

In  conformity  with  the  Act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled 
“ An  Act  for  the  encouragement  of  Learning,  by  securing  the  Copies  of 
“ Maps,  Charts,  and  Books  to  the  Authors  and  Proprietors  of  such  Copies, 
“ during  the  times  therein  mentioned  and  also  the  Act,  entitled  “ An  Act 
“for  the  encouragement  of  Learning,  by  securing  the  Copies  of  Maps, 
“Charts  and  Bocks,  to  the  Authors  and  Proprietors  of  such  Copies,  during 
“the  times  therein  mentioned,  and  extending  the  benefits  thereof,  to  the 
“ Arts  of  Designing,  Engraving  and  Etching,  Historical  and  other  Prints.” 


PHILIP  MOORE,  Cl’k.  Dist.  Mil. 


SKETCHES 


OF  THE 

t 

OF 

MARYLAND. 


Xn  the  year  1634,  Leonard  Calvert,  appointed  Lieutenant- 
general  and  Governor  of  Maryland,  by  his  brother  Cecelius, 
Lord  Baltimore  and  proprietary,  George  Calvert,  another 
brother,  and  about  two  hundred  colonists,  having  sailed  from 
England  the  year  before,  and  wintered  in  the  West  India  is- 
lands, landed  and  fixed  themselves  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Patowmack  river,  a few  miles  from  the  mouth  of  it,  and  called 
the  place  St.  Mary’s. 

This  was  effected  without  any  opposition  from  the  natives 
of  the  country,  who  it  would  appear  according  to  Mr.  Bozman’s 
researches,  were  subjects  of  Opitchapan,  Powhatan’s  successor 
or  of  the  same  confederacy,  and  governed  by  a youthful  Werow- 
ance  or  viceroy  and  a regent  of  the  name  of  Archihan.  They 
received  a satisfactory  compensation,  were  much  reduced  and 
terrified  by  their  northern  neighbours  of  red  men,  and  willing  to 
receive  the  protection  of  allies  so  enlightened  and  warlike  as 
were  the  new  colonists. 

These  being  in  part,  gentlemen  of  affluence,  well  provided, 
arriving  at  a favorable  season,  and  countenanced,  though  not 
encouraged,  and  sometimes  opposed  by  the  earlier  settlements 
of  the  Virginia  colonists  on  the  south,  and  the  Swedes  and 
Dutch  on  the  north,  did  not  encounter  the  distress  and  defeats 


4 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 

Which  had  usually  attended  such  settlements.  Besides  the 
Governor  and  his  brother,  we  find  the  names  of  Jerome  Haw- 

F^dl  7w  ?rnwalli3’  Richard  Gerrard>  Ed'^d  Wintour, 
Fredenclc  Win  our  and  Henry  AViseman.Esqs.  Capt.  John  Hill 

and  Messrs.  John  Saunders,  Edwatd  Cranfield,  Henry  Green, 

andWT  ”7  J°hn  Baxter>  Thomas  Derrel,  John  Medcalfe, 

were  a ‘‘“7  7!’  ^ Wh°m’  HaW,e-v  alld  Cornwallis 

;e,e  aPPomted  by  Lord  Baltimore,  to  be  assistants  to  the 

—r  tC0UnC1"°rS-  CaPtain  Henr7  F'oete,  who  they 
' a iscataway  on  landing, assisted  them  materially, 
lev  lived  in  the  same  houses,  and  cultivated  the  same 

on  "f  o " 7 le<*  PeoP*e’  aiu*  'n  the  utmost  harmony,  until 

one  of  the  Virginia  council,  named  William  Clayborne,  who  had 
p ocuied  a hcense  to  trade,  and  established  factories  on  Kent 
aland  and  near  the  Susquehanna!.,  excited  the  Indians  living 
Witlnn  the  terntories  granted  to  Lord  Baltimore,  but  who  were 

he  r °i  0Ve'awed  'vhen  Governor  had  forcibly  dispersed 
the  intruders  soon  alter. 

George  Calvert,  the  first  Baron  of  Baltimore  and  father  of 

(.Jr['l'<l.[?rU|ta'rV’’ ''ll0  llad  namet*  tile  son  after  his  patron,  Robert 
7 Earl  of  Salsbury,  was  born  at  Kipling  in  Yorkshire  and 
educated  at  Oxford  University,  which  he  represented  in  Parlia- 
ment a terwards ; filling  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State, 
but  was  rather  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Council  of  State  as 
then  organized,  and  the  King  had  granted  him  part  of  New. 
found  land,  which  he  called  Avalon,  visited  and  made  some  im- 
provements there,  but  vainly  attempted  to  colonize.  He  had 

Cne.  ,°f,the  S0C‘ety  °r  comPan7  fe>'  settling  Virginia  in 
lb-0,  and  had,  on  account  of  difficulties  encountered  durum-  his 
residence  there,  as  a Roman  Catholic,  to  which  religion  he°had 
become  a convert  and  thereby  forfeited  all  his  offices,  except 
that  of  a Privy  Councillor,  in  which  he  was  continued  during 
the  life  of  James  I.  the  promise  of  another  particular  grant 
iioin  the  King;  it  was  rather  an  exemption  from  the  forfeiture 
liicuned  by  that  company,  than  an  encroachment  on  former 
grants,  for  the  successor  to  the  crown  to  bestow  on  Cecilius 
the  son,  the  unsettled  lands  on  the  Chesapeake,  and  from  the 
sea  to  the  source  of  the  Patowmack ; the  former  were  supposed 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


to  extend  from  the  SSth  to  the  40th  degree  of  north  latitude,  as 
described  in  the  charter,  and  Sir  John  Harvey,  the  then  viceroy 
of  Virginia,  politely  waited  on  and  tendered  his  civilities  to  his 
brother,  the  Governor. 

In  that  act,  the  province  which  Lord  Baltimore  intended  to 
call  Crescentia,  was  named  Maryland,  by  King  Charles,  in  hon- 
or of  his  royal  consort,  who  was  Henrietta-Maria,  daughter  of 
Henry  IV.  of  France. 

It  does  not  appear  that  these  colonists  were  actuated  by  an 
over  pious  zeal  to  convert  the  heathen,  or  the  extravagant  pro- 
ject of  finding  a passage  to  the  east  through  the  western  conti- 
tinent ; but,  out  of  respect  for  their  religion,  they  planted  the 
cross,  and  after  fortifying  themselves,  plainly  and  openly  set 
about  to  obtain  by  the  fairest  means  in  their  power,  other  pro- 
perty and  homes,  where  they  should  escape  the  persecutions  of 
the  religious  and  political  reformers  of  their  native  country  at 
that  period. 

The  land  was  granted  Lord  Baltimore  according  to  the 
most  liberal  tenure  of  the  times,  two  Indian  arrows  a year  : the 
colonists  were  exempted  from  English  customs  or  taxes  here, 
and  entitled  to  protection  from  that  kingdom,  at  home  or  abroad, 
as  native  born  subjects.  Although  there  were  clauses  which  a 
British  attorney-general  in  1680,  declared  to  be,  “ not  agreeable 
to  the  laws  there,”  laws  could  only  be  made  here  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  freemen  or  their  deputies  ; and,  if  amongst 
the  grants,  there  was  power  to  make  ordinances  given  to  the 
proprietaries,  there  is  an  exception  of  much  liberality  towards 
the  people,  which  was,  that,  no  person  should  be  deprived  of 
member,  life,  freehold,  goods  or  chatties,”  by  such  ordinances; 
and  the  act  became  a model  for  succeeding  grants. 

According  to  the  conditions  of  plantation  of  the  proprietary, 
as  contained  in  “ The  Landholder’s  Assistant,”  each  colonist 
was  entitled  to  one  hundred  acres  for  himself,  as  much  for  his 
wife  and  fifty  acres  a piece  for  his  children  and  servants,  in 
perpetuity,  on  payment  of  twenty  pounds  of  wheat  per  hundred 
acres,  per  annum.  There  were  to  be  baronies  as  well  as  ma- 
nors for  larger  tracts,  than  which  there  could  not  be  a greater 
inducement  for  independent  settlers  ; and  some,  by  paving  the 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


{> 

passages  of  others,  obtained,  with  their  services,  the  land  rights 
of  upwards  of  twenty  persons  or  two  thousand  and  three  thou- 
sand acres  ; no  privileges  were  enjoyed  for  such  large  estates 
except  that  of  being  able  to  lease  them  out  again,  and  no  baro- 
nies were  ever  granted,  though  a court-baron  and  court-leet 
were  held  on  one  or  two  occasions,  and  there  was  a fine  or  tax, 
upon  sales  of  land,  equal  to  the  quit  rent  of  a year,  on  each 
sale  or  alienation  ; for  a majority  of  the  freeholders  here,  would 
necessarily  be  composed  of  lesser  tenants,  and  feudal  service 
was  becoming  odious  every  where. 

With  expressions  of  gratitude  for  his  personal  exertions,  the 
proprietary  added  to  his  brother’s  powers,  those  of  Admiral, 
Chief  Judge  and  Chancellor;  and  it  is  stated  that  the  Governor 
immediately  proceeded  to  appoint  a Secretary  and  Sheriff,  mili- 
tary officers,  Commissioners  of  the  Peace  and  Coroners,  and 
that,  with  Jerome  Hawley  and  Thomas  Cornwallis,  councillors 
who  came  out  with  him,  he  issued  an  order  to  encourage  emi- 
gration by  offers  of  land.  The  colonists  were  soon  assembled, 
once  within,  the  very  year  in  which  they  arrived,  as  is  stated 
in  Chalmcr’s  Annals,  for  the  purpose  of  legislation  and  police, 
secured  to  them  by  the  charter  ; but  there  are  no  copies  of  their 
laws  and  very  imperfect  notes  of  their  proceedings,  for  the  first 
three  or  four  years.  It  may  now  appear  strange,  but  the  first 
difficulty  was,  where  the  making  of  laws  should  commence  ; 
yet,  such  has  often  been  the  effect  of  the  use  of  terms  like  those 
of  the  charter,  wherein  Lord  Baltimore  was  to  make  laws,  “ of 
and  ivitli  the  advice,  assent  and  approbation  ” of  the  freemen. 
Those  that  were  forwarded  by  the  proprietary,  were  rejected 
by  the  Assembly ; those  drawn  up  by  that  body,  were  refused 
by  him,  and  the  Assembly  persisted  until  they  succeeded. 

From  the  list  contained  in  Mr.  Bacon’s  collection,  it  appears 
that  the  latter  included  bills  for  swearing  allegiance,  for  the 
liberties  of  the  people,  for  laying  out  church  glebes  and  for  the 
support  of  the  proprietary.  The  Assembly  also  were  obliged, 
for  want  of  established  laws  and  courts  of  justice,  to  try  an 
a^ent  of  Clayborne’s,  of  the  name  of  Thomas  Smith,  whom  they 
had  taken  after  a combat  of  pinnaces  in  the  bay,  in  which  some 
lives  on  both  sides  were  lost,  and  condemned  as  a pirate,  pas- 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


sing  a bill  of  attainder  against  his  principal,  then  gone  to  Eng- 
land to  seek  in  vain  that  redress  which,  however  unwillingly, 
the  government  of  Virginia  had  been  obliged  to  refuse  him. 
Assemblies  were  composed  of  the  Governor,  as  President,  Je- 
rome Hawley,  Thomas  Cornwallis  and  John  Lewger,  Esqs.  his 
councillors, -summoned  by  writs  of  the  Governor;  as  were  the 
chief  officers  of  the  province,  for  some  years ; sitting  as  indi- 
viduals in  their  own  rights,  and  also  as  proxies  for  some  others, 
and  all  the  freemen  who  should  chuse  to  attend ; and  all 
were  freemen,  except  hirelings,  paupers  and  servants.  The 
number  of  votes  with  the  proxies,  about  seventy.  Mr,  Lewger, 
who  had  lately  arrived,  was  also  appointed  by  the  proprietary, 
Collector,  Treasurer  and  Secretary  of  the  province,  and  acted 
as  such  to  the  Assembly,  and  Surveyor-general,  Judge  in  causes 
testamentary  and  conservator  of  the  peace  by  the  Governor, 
who  also  appointed  him  his  deputy,  when  absent  in  1638,  but 
was  by  him  suspended  for  a short  time,  for  committing  to  Cap- 
tain Fleete,  extravagant  and  unlawful  authority.  When  re- 
appointed, he  was  also  made  attorney-general.  Captain  Robert 
Wintour,  then  lately  arrived,  was  made  a Councillor  early  in 
the  year,  and  in  the  course  of  the  summer  Mr.  Hawley  died. 

Among  the  acts  passed  at  a Session  held  at  St.  Mary’s,  five 
years  after  they  arrived  in  the  country,  that  is,  1639, 
we  find  the  first  relating  to  the  Rouse  of  Assembly  itself. 
Here,  upon  writs  being  issued  by  the  Governor,  delegates  elect- 
ed by  the  freemen  were  to  sit  as  burgesses,  one  or  two  for  each 
hundred,  with  the  persons  specially  called  by  the  Governor, 
and  such  freemen  as  had  not  consented  to  the  election  of  others, 
or  any  twelve  or  more  of  them,  including  always  the  Governor 
and  Secretary.  Their  Acts  being  assented  to  by  the  Governor, 
were  to  be  as  binding  as  if  the  proprietary  and  all  the  freemen 
had  been  present,  until  assented  to  or  rejected  by  him : and  it 
was  intended  that  those  Assemblies  should  be  called  once  in 
three  years,  at  least,  as  it  is  believed. 

After  providing  that  the  Governor  should  hold  courts  of 
justice,  and  the  Secretary  take  probats  of  wills,  they  proceeded 
to  extend  a limited  jurisdiction  to  the  commander  of  Kent,  who 
was  Captain  George  Evelyn ; some  of  its  original  settlers  sub- 


8 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


milting  willingly.  Tobacco  planters  were  required  to  plant 
corn  also.  The  debts  due  the  proprietary  were  to  be  preferred, 
and  none  for  wine  or  spirit,  to  be  recovered  until  all  others 
were  discharged  ; swearing  all  to  administer  justice  according 
to  the  laws  or  laudable  usages  of  this  province  when  provided, 
and  renewing  the  rights  of  all  as  English  born  subjects,  accord- 
ing to  the  great  charter  of  England  ; establishing  the  trial  by 
jury  of  twelve  freemen  at  least,  after  indictment,  in  criminal 
cases.  The  Governor  had  with  Captain  Robert  Wintour  and 
John  Lewger,  held  a county  court  at  St.  Mary’s,  in  which  a 
grand  jury  presented  Clayborne  and  Smith  to  the  Assembly, 
and  Thomas  Baldridge  was  appointed  Sheriff  and  Coroner,  for 
one  year.  County  Courts  rose  with  the  counties,  in  the  per- 
sons of  the  commander  and  commissioners,  their  powers  and 
jurisdiction  being  very  limited,  with  appeals  to  the  provincial 
court,  which  consisted  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  at  that 
time,  as  well  as  from  the  Governor,  as  Chancellor.  It  is  stated 
in  manuscript  notes  obligingly  communicated  by  T.  Harris, 
Esq.  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  that  it  was  a practice  to 
hold  the  Provincial  Court  at  different  places,  and  also,  for  one 
of  the  council  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  commission  for  the 
county  courts,  for  some  time,  as  commander  of  such  county. 

There  were  certain  powers  given  to  the  captain  of  the  mili- 
tary band,  then  probably  Mr.  Cornwallis,  who  had  captured 
Smith,  and  was  the  Governor’s  deputy  during  some  absences; 
and  a Treasurer,  who  was  Mr.  Giles  Brent,  then  made  a mem- 
ber of  the  council  also,  was  to  pay  all  the  public  charges  on 
the  order  of  the  Governor  and  Council.  These  were  first  rais- 
ed by  a duty  of  five  pounds  in  one  hundred  of  all  tobacco  ex- 
ported except  to  England,  Ireland  and  Virginia;  and  not 
exceeding  twenty  thousand  pounds  were  voted  for  the  erection 
of  a water-mill , to  be  levied  011  all  the  inhabitants,  as  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  should  direct. 

Thus  an  article  of  which  it  was  once  endeavoured  to  pre- 
vent the  consumption  in  the  parent  country,  became  the  me- 
dium staple  here  instead  ot  wheat  or  money,  in  so  short  a time  5 
and  although  its  importation  from  other  countries  was  prohibited 
there,  this  source  of  revenue  must  have  diminished  greatly,  when 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


9 


that  government  interdicted  the  direct  trade  from  the  colonies 
to  other  countries.  From  the  impost  thus  levied,  it  is  to  be 
concluded,  that  such  interdictions  of  trade  in  the  staple,  were 
not  anticipated  by  the  colonists  and  they  were  never  willingly 
assented  to  by  them  or  by  the  proprietaries,  as  will  be  seen 
hereafter. 

The  cultivation  of  tobacco  appears  to  have  been  accompa- 
nied by,  if  it  did  not  produce  the  introduction  of  slavery  in 
Maryland,  negroes  being  already  the  labourers  of  other  colonies, 
where  that  or  sugar  was  planted ; and,  it  was  at  this  early 
day  thought  necessary  by  some,  to  deprive  them  of  a full  and 
equal  enjoyment  of  the  privileges  or  protection  of  the  laws,  as 
appears  by  one  amongst  a number  of  bills  presented  to  this 
Assembly  on  different  subjects,  which  however  were  not  finally 
acted  on  or  passed,  at  that  time  at  least. 

In  1640,  owing  probably,  to  the  obstructed  intercourse  with 
the,  natives  and  the  necessity  of  providing  stores  for  the  mili- 
tary, the  exportation  of  corn  was  prohibited;  and  three  viewers 
or  inspectors  of  tobacco  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  com- 
mander in  every  hundred,  sometimes  co-extensive  with  a 
county.  When  a hogshead  should  be  found  to  contain  bad 
tobacco  for  the  greater  part,  it  was  to  be  burned,  and  when  not 
sealed  for  good , the  exportation  was  prohibited  under  treble 
damages  : It  was  how  ever  not  uncommon,  even  at  a later  period, 
to  ship  that  article  in  bulk  as  vve  now  do  staves  or  other  lumber. 
It  was  provided  also,  that  in  case  of  the  death  of  the  Governor, 
the  first  named  of  the  council  should  act  in  his  place  until  a. 
newr  one  w as  appointed  jby  the  proprietary. 

The  next  year  one  subsidy  of  fifteen  pounds  of  tobacco 
per  poll  was  granted  the  proprietary  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  government;  and  to  contribute  to  this,  every  inhabitant 
male  or  female,  except  children  under  twelve  years  of  age, 
were  bound  ; a system  of  taxation  perhaps  equal  in  the  infancy 
of  the  colony,  when  there  had  been  little  or  no  visible  property 
acquired  except  lands,  and  every  persons  means  were  neces- 
sarily dependent  on  the  quantity  ©f  labour  at  his  disposal;  ac-, 
cordingly,  we  find  that  fugitives  were  punished  with  forfeiture 
of  life  unless  pardoned  by  the  Governor. 

2 


10 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 

Encouragement  was  given  to  the  English  and  Irish  only, 
and  in  1641,  they  were  to  bring  in  arms  and  amunition,  accord- 
ing to  Lord  Baltimore’s  conditions  of  plantation ; the  quit 
rents  being  also  raised  to  two  shillings  sterling  for  one  hundred 
acres  yearly;  which  was  the  rate  established  in  Virginia 
by  the  crown  in  1625  ; and  John  Langford,  Esq.  was  appointed 
Surveyor-general  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Lewger,  and  for  life,  be- 
cause perhaps,  a person  qualified  for  such  an  office,  could  not 
be  induced  to  relinquish  the  emoluments  of  an  established  coun- 
try for  the  hazards  of  an  infant  colony  on  common  terms,  and 
he  had  probably  rendered  great  services  as  high-constable  of 
Kent  in  1738,  but  it  is  the  only  instance  of  such  tenure.  Co- 
lonel Francis  Trafford,  William  Blount,  Esq.  and  this  gentle- 
man were  also  made  councillors  on  the  resignation  of  Mr. 
Cornwallis  in  1642;  and  all  these  officers  appointed  during 
pleasure,  were  generally  re-appointed  or  continued  as  long  as 
they  lived.  Provision  was  also  made  in  the  same  Session,  for 
the  appointment  of  a person  or  persons  to  take  probats  of 
wills,  grant  letters  of  administration  and  hear  testamentary 
causes  in  the  county  or  counties,  and  most  of  this  authority  was 
vested  in  each  county  court,  yvith  appeal  to  the  provincial  court 
or  Governor  and  council,  for  some  years.  But  the  original 
jurisdiction  of  the  county  courts  was  much  restricted,  both  in 
criminal  and  civil  cases,  until  a few  years  before  the  province 
became  independant. 

In  1642  an  act  yvas  passed  for  “ an  expedition  against  the 
Indians,”  which  indicates  the  approaching  difficulties  of  the 
colony  at  the  time.  Indeed  it  seems  that  in  this  very  year 
some  of  the  Marylanders,  who  had  got  amongst  the  Swedes  as 
far  north  as  the  Schuylkill,  were  attacked  by  the  Dutch,  who 
were  sent  by  Kieft  from  New- York,  by  the  natives  called 
Manhattan,  and  by  the  Dutch  New-Amsterdam,  claiming 
the  Hudson  and  Delaware,  with  the  lands  on  both  sides  of 
those  rivers,  which  country  they  called  New-Netherlands.  They 
excited  the  Indians,  took  torcible  possession  and  drove  our  colo- 
nists back  on  the  Chesapeake.  Within  eight  years  after  their  ar- 
rival, in  less  time  than  either  south  or  north  Virginia  had  any  As- 
sembly, and  when  the  Parliament  of  England  yvas  reducing  the 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


II 


power  of  the  peers,  the  freemen  of  Maryland  formally  request- 
ed that  the  burgesses  might  form  a separate  house,  having  a ne- 
gative in  all  laws  ; but  it  w as  not  assented  to  by  the  Proprietary 
or  carried  into  effect  until  1649. 

The  Governor  going  to  England  in  1643,  deputed  Giles  Brent 
Esq.  the  Treasurer  to  be  his  deputy ; to  whom  the  proprietary 
himself  announced  his  approbation  and  his  own  intention  to  visit 
the  province  at  an  early  period,  but  was  prevented  by  the  ap- 
proaches of  the  revolution  there  probably,  and  never  did  accom- 
plish it. 

Tim  proprietary’s  benefactor,  king  Charles,  having  now'  been 
driven  from  London  by  the  commons,  they  passed  an  ordinance 
offering  certain  exemptions  from  customs  in  England,  if  the 
colonists  would  refuse  to  employ  any  other  ships  but  theirs ; 
which  was  the  foundation  of  the  navigation  act  and  others  lead- 
ing to  resistance  and  American  independence.  Clayborne  who 
was  perhaps  already  an  associate  of  Cromwell,  Hazlerigg  and 
others,  who  were  prevented  from  leaving  England  in  1638  by 
a general  order  of  the  government  against  disorderly  fugitives, 
and  now  at  least  a partisan  ot  the  commons,  instigated  a rebel- 
lion in  the  province,  to  which  the  Governor  returned  in  1644. 

At  the  head  of  the  insurgents  at  this  time,  was  a captain 
Richard  Ingle,  and  they  succeeded  in  driving  Governor  Calvert 
across  the  Patomack  into  Virginia,  taking  St.  Mary’s  and  the 
public  records,  which  were  never  recovered,  and  leaves  us  igno- 
rant of  many  particulars  relating  to  that  eventful  time.  The 
Governor  however  returned  and  held  assemblies  in  December 
1646  and  January  1647,  when  provision  was  made  for  repairing 
Piscataway  Fort,  which  was  one  of  the  last  public  acts  of  his 
life,  as  he  embarked  for  England  the  latter  year  and  there  died. 

It  appears  that  in  1644,  William  Brainfhwaite,  Esq.  was  to 
be  Governor  during  any  absence  he  might  make,  but  that  while 
in  Virginia  in  1346,  the  Governor  sent  a commission  of  deputy 
to  Captain  Richard  Hill,  and  in  his  last  illness  in  1647,  he  ap- 
pointed Thomas  Greene,  Esq.  who  was  a member  of  the  coun- 
cil, verbally.  This  being  contested  by  Capt.  Hill,  the  council 
decided  in  favor  of  Mr.  Greene,  which  was  approved  by  the 
proprietary,  and  all  Hill’s  acts  made  void,  because  he  was  not  a 
member  of  council  at  the  time  he  was  commissioned. 


12 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


In  1648  (new  style)  an  Assembly  was  held  under  Mr.  Greene, 
in  which  an  act  was  passed  for  settling  the  government,  “ as 
the  present  state  of  things  will  permit,”  a title  very  evincive  of 
the  distresses  of  the  time.  It  is  stated  by  Mr.  Kilty,  that  Mrs. 
Margaret  Brent,  a connexion  and  perhaps  heiress  of  the  deputy 
Governor  of  that  name,  who  was  now  attorney  for  the  proprie- 
tary, and  administratrix  of  Leonard,  just  deceased,  claimed  a 
voice  in  the  Assembly,  by  proxy  we  presume,  and  being  refused 
by  Mr.  Greene,  made  a formal  protest  against  their  proceedings. 

Tlie  office  of  Surveyor-general,  being  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Mr.  Langford,  Robert  Clarke,  Esq.  was  appointed  in  his  place 
and  made  a member  of  Council.  It  was  from  this  time,  that 
deputy-surveyors  as  well  as  deputy-commissaries  of  wills, 
were  appointed  for  each  county,  the  latter  by  their  principals, 
but  the  former  were  often  by  the  Governors  or  Proprietaries. 

Mr.  Greene  who  had  less  discretion  or  foresight  than  his  em- 
ployer, proclaimed  Charles  II.  and  was  succeeded  the  next  year 
on  this  account  ostensibly,  though  related  to  the  Proprietary, 
by  Win.  Stone,  Esq.  and  now  the  Assembly  appear  to  have  sat 
in  two  distinct  houses.  It  was  in  this  Assembly,  under  the 
title  of,  " an  act  concerning  religion,”  that  liberty  of  conscience, 
was  established,  if  it  had  not  been  before,  by  prohibiting,  under 
severe  penalties,  any  molestation  of,  “ persons  professing  to  be- 
lieve in  Jesus  Christ,  for,  or  in  respect  of,  his  or  her  religion, 
or  the  free  exercise  thereof.”  That  this  liberality  did  not  pro- 
ceed from  fear  of  others  on  the  one  hand,  or  licentious  disposi- 
tions in  the  government  on  the  other,  is  sufficiently  evident,  from 
the  penalties  prescribed  against  blasphemy,  swearing,  drunken- 
ness and  Sabbath-breaking,  by  the  preceeding  sections  of  the 
act,  and  proviso  at  the  end,  that  such  exercise  of  religion  did  not 
molest  or  conspire  against  the  Proprietary  or  his  government. 
Viewing  the  situation  of  the  colony,  it  was  good  policy  no  doubt, 
even  towards  the  dissenters,  under  whose  extreme  severity,  all 
others,  except  perhaps  the  Jews,  enjoyed  a greater  liberty  of 
conscience  in  the  parent  country  than  the  Roman  Catholics. 

The  same  laudable  spirit  induced  the  Assembly  to  pass  an 
act  under  a title  equally  concise  of,  “ an  act  touching  Indians,” 
by  which  it  was  felony  of  death,  to  take,  entice,  surprise,  trans- 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


13 


port  or  sell  any  friendly  Indian,  but  the  felony  of  death  was 
without  forfeiture  of  estate  and  30001x1100;  to  modern  jurispru- 
dence. The  people  were  also  prohibited  from  selling  guns  or 
ammunition  to  Indians,  or  purchasing  their  lands,  without  au- 
thority derived  from  the  Proprietary.  An  assessment  was  to  be 
raised  on  all  the  inhabitants  to  replace  his  stock  of  cattle  taken 
for  the  army,  and  a further  duty  of  ten  shillings  per  hogshead 
granted  him  on  all  tobacco  exported  in  Dutch  vessels  for  seven 
years,  to  be  collected  before  shipping,  by  the  Governor ; one  half 
of  which  was  however,  to  be  employed  yearly  towards  discharge 
ing  the  debts  incurred  in  recovering  and  defending  the  province. 
The  good  will,  which  the  colonists  professed  towards  the  Pro- 
prietary in  this  gift  during  their  " distracted  condition,”  may 
be  appreciated,  when  we  consider  that  it  was  necessary  to  pass 
“ an  order  providing  for  the  relief  of  the  poor, the  year  after, 
when  the  colony  did  not  probably  contain  a thousand  freemen. 

At  the  Assembly  of  this  year,  1649,  the  Proprietary  having 
acceded  to  the  views  of  the  burgesses,  the  councillors  and  they 
sat  in  different  houses,  and  the  titles  of  their  acts  were  changed 
accordingly. 

Encouragement  was  now  offered  to  settlers  from  all  coun- 
tries, but  they  were  enjoined  to  take  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  the 
Proprietary,  who  forbad  all  grants  in  trust  or  to  corporate  bodies ; 
a system  which  he  reprobated,  because  perhaps,  he  had  noticed 
abuses  in  the  Virginia  and  Plymouth  Companies. 

The  Assembly  of  1650,  proceeded  formally  to  divide  them- 
selves into  two  houses  by  lav/.  There  were  eleven  members  of 
the  upper-house,  including  the  Governor,  viz:  Wm.  Stone,  Jas. 
Neale,  Thomas  Greene,  Wm.  Brainth waite,  John  Price,  Thomas 
Hatton,  Jno.  Pile,  Robert  Clarke,  Robert  Brooke,  Wm.  Eltonhead 
and  Wm.  Mitchell,  Esquires,  and  eleven  burgesses  from  six 
hundreds  in  St.  Mary’s  county,  viz : Messrs.  John  Hatch,  Walter 
Beane,  John  Medley,  Wm.  Broughe,  Robert  Robins,  Francis 
Posie,  Philip  Land,  Francis  Brooke,  Thos.  Matthews,  Thos.Stcr- 
man  and  George  Manners ; one  from  Kent  Island,  who  was 
Robert  Vaughan,  the  commander,  and  two  from  Providence , 
Messrs.  George  Puddington  and  James  Cox,  which  they  imme- 
diately erected  into  a county  by  the  name  of  Anne  Arundal 


sketches  of  the  early 


14 

Here  were  a government  of  checks  and  balances  already  ; legis- 
lative powers  divided  and  derived  from  different  sources,  very 
independent,  preventing  combinations  or  cabal  s>  and  securing 
to  the  laws,  in  their  formation  as  well  as  in  their  execution,  the 
utmost  deliberation  and  disinterestedness  of  which  civil  society 
is  susceptible,  at  least  as  far  as  then  discovered. 

By  the  act  for  settling  the  Assembly  and,  “ for  the  more  con- 
venient dispatch  of  the  business”  the  Governor  and  Secretary, 
or  any  one  or  more  of  the  council,  should  be  the  upper-house, 
and  the  fourteen  burgesses,  by  name,  or  any  five  of  them,  the 
lower-house,  and  all  bills  assented  to  by  the  major  part  of  them, 
enacted  and  published  by  the  Governor,  should  be  laws  of  the 
province,  as  fully  as  if  advised  and  assented  to  by  all  the  fre‘e- 
men  personally.  It  was  for  soi^e  time  the  practice  of  the  Gov- 
ernor to  sit  and  preside  in  the  Assembly  or  the  upper-house,  but 
he  still  retained  a negative  ; and  though  he  was  empowered  to 
assent  to  laws  on  the  part  of  the  Proprietary,  the  latter  retained 
and  exercised  his  negative  also ; but,  while  the  proprietary 
Government  existed,  the  laws,  or  acts , were  not  submitted  to 
the  government  of  England  or  any  branch  of  it,  unless  from 
discretion.  When  in  the  province,  the  Proprietary  superced- 
ed the  Governor  and  occupied  his  seat,  and  though  he  generally 
appointed  all  the  councillors  and  high  officers,  they  were  some- 
times appointed  by  the  Governors.  Such  continued  to  be  the 
form  of  government  of  Maryland,  with  little  variation,  and  ex- 
cept during  the  revolutions  of  the  parent  country,  while  it 
remained  a domain  of  Lord  Baltimore  and  his  heirs. 

The  two  houses,  after  the  burgesses  had  chosen  James  Cox, 
Esq.  one  of  the  deputies  from  Anne  Arundel,  their  speaker,  the 
Governor  appointing  Mr.  Wm.  Bretton,  clerk,  passed  a most 
humble  actof  recognition  to  the  Proprietary,  as  the  first  fru  its 
of  their  fidelity  and  thankfulness.  While  they  accompanied 
this  declaration  with  an  act  for  the  speedy  payment  of  his  debts 
and  the  reservation  of  the  deserted  plantations,- they  prohibited 
the  raising  of  money  or  waging  of  war  abroad  without  their  con- 
sent, a9  well  as  all  compliance  with  Clayborne : they  also  passed 
an  act  of  oblivion,  with  an  exception  of  Ingle  and  another.  Al- 
though it  was  the  practice  with  the  natives  to  put  their  prisoners 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND* 


15 


to  death  general ly,  it  was  not  always  the  case,  and  a levy  was 
made  for  redeeming  two  orphans  detained  by  them ; and  it 
seems  some  red  people  were  kept  as  hostages  or  servants  by  in- 
dividuals, in  spite  of  laws ; but  then  the  Assembly  ordered  a 
inarch  upon  the  Indians,  the  re-edifying  the  fort  at  St.  Inagoes, 
which  in  fact  was  their  immediate  dwelling,  and  provided  for 
the  registering  of  marriages,  births  and  burials. 

The  Parliament  of  London  laid  a specific  duty  of  three 
pence  per  pound  on  tobacco,  which  was  increased  at  this  time 
considerably  and  imitated  by  that  at  Oxford.  The  order 
Which  was  issued  by  the  Parliament  this  year,  for  prohibiting 
trade  with  Virginia  and  several  West  India  islands,  must  have 
increased  the  difficulties  of  our  colonists  who  participated  in 
the  loyalty  which  was  the  cause  of  it,  and  they  were  not  lessen- 
ed by  a similar  act  of  Massachusetts  soon  after,  when  the 
famous  navigation  act  was  produced;  both  of  them  to  secure 
the  commerce  and  reduce  the  southern  colonies  to  compliance 
with  the  Parliament.  Thus  were  the  troubles  of  Maryland  caus- 
ed by  the  English  colonists  of  America  or  English  factionists  at 
home,  and  no  evidence  appears  that  the  parent  country  gave 
any  assistance  to  our  ancestors,  either  in  procuring  the  soil  she 
granted  or  settling  their  internal  government:  which,  if 
bound  at  all  by  those  charters,  considered  preposterous  as  mere 
donations  of  foreign  territories,  she  should  have  done;  nor  could 
the  obligation  be  dissolved  by  domestic  difficulties  of  her  own 
creation  which  may  have  prevented  her  interference.  She  will 
scarcely  find  a justification  for  the  regulation  of  the  trade  of 
the  colonies  thus  commenced,  in  her  opposition  to  the  encroach- 
ments upon  them  by  rival  nations,  or  upon  one  another  by  the 
different  Proprietaries,  as  she  sometimes  did,  both  before  and 
after  the  grant  of  Maryland,  for  she  commenced  and  terminat- 
ed her  disputes  with  them  at  her  own  discretion,  and  not 
always  to  the  advantage  of  the  colonists  or  the  Proprietaries. 

Those  measures  giving  sanction  to  the  reformers  here,  ap- 
pear to  have  had  the  effect  of  dividing  our  colonists ; and  the 
parties  took  up  arms  against  each  other,  so  that  Governor  Stone 
was  obliged  to  abandon  the  administration  of  civil  affairs  to 
command  the  loyalists.  What  battles  they  fought,  and  how 
many  were  killed  is  unknown  to  us,  but  these  painful  broils, 


16 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


although  confined  to  so  small  a territory,  for  there  were  still 
Indian  towns  on  the  Patuxent,  gave  the  rival  neighbours  time 
and  opportunity  to  fortify  themselves  and  create  future  difficul- 
ties to  the  Proprietary  and  the  province.  Sweden  had  done 
little  for  her  colonists  and  they  remained  quiet  at  Tinicum 
Island,  when  in  1651,  the  Dutch  landed  at  New-Castle  and 
built  a fort  there,  by  which  the  Swedes  were  alarmed,  and  Riz- 
ing,  retook  it  and  erected  another  fort  at  Christeen  for  their 
further  security. 

It  appears  that  Messrs.  Francis  Yaidley,  Rich’d  Preston  and 
Richard  Banks  were  added  to  the  number  of  councillors  in  1652, 
when  the  insurgents  subdued  Governor  Stone,  partially  at  least, 
and  got  possession  of  the  province.  Clay  borne  secured  the  con- 
fidence of  the  ruling  party  by  his  hostility  to  the  Proprietary’s 
government,  and  was  now  with  Capt.  Dennis  and  two  others, 
commissioned  for  “ reducing,  settling  and  governing  all  the 
plantations  within  the  bay  of  the  Chesapeake.”  They  forced 
Governor  Berkely  to  deliver  up  the  colony  of  Virginia,  as  a do- 
main of  the  crown,  but  not  without  some  fighting  and  a capitula- 
tion. Governer  Stone  was  not  displaced  directly,  but  required 
to  govern  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Protector,  which  Lord  Balti- 
more resisted  of  course.  The  colonists  again  embodied  under 
Mr.  Stone  and  resisted,  and  so  far  succeeded,  that  the  Gov- 
ernor and  council  erected  a new  county,  which  they  called  Cal- 
vert; but  the  parties  were  very  unequal,  especially  after  the 
reduction  of  Virginia,  and  finally,  in  1654,  Cromwell’s  commis- 
sioners landed  and  assembled  their  forces  on  the  ( north  side  of 
the  Patuxent,  where  the  people  appear  to  have  been  more  favora- 
ble to  them  than  those  of  St.  Mary’s,  and  compelled  the  Gover- 
nor to  submit.  The  victors  issued  a commission  to  Capt.  Win. 
Fuller,  Richard  Preston,  who  was  one  of  the  council,  Edward 
Lloyd,  who  had  been  commander  of  Anne  Arundal  seven  years 
before,  William  Durand,  who  was  made  Secretary  by  the  others, 
John  Smith,  Leonard  Strong,  John  Lawson,  John  Hatch,  Rich- 
ard Wells  and  Richard  Ewen,  to  be  Governors  and  judges,  un- 
der Cromwell,  and  took  and  tried  Governor  Stone  by  a court- 
martial,  and  he  was  condemned  to  be  shot ; but  he  had  endeared 
himself  even  to  the  soldiery  so  much,  that  they  dared  not 
take  his  life,  and  he  remained  a longtime  in  confinement. 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


1 z 

In  the  mean  time  an  expedition  was  sent  from  England  un- 
der Nicholls,  with  which  the  northern  colonists  were  pressed  to 
join,  to  expel  the  Dutch  from  New-Netherlands,  but  little  'aid 
was  given  and  the  object  failed.  An  Assembly  was  held  un- 
der this  commission  at  Patuxent,  for  the  new  Governors  abolish- 
ed the  name  of  Calvert  county  as  they  had  that  of  Anne  Arundel, 
in  which  the  upper-house  was  done  away.  Messrs.  Thomas 
Hatton  and  Job  Chandler  who  were  burgesses  for  St.  Mary’s 
county,  refused  to  serve,  as  being  inconsistent  with  the  oath 
they  had  taken  to  Lord  Baltimore,  but  two  others  were  returned 
in  their  places;  Mr.  Hatton  had  been  a member  of  council, 
Secretary,  Commissary  and  Attorney-general;  the  first  appoint- 
ed after  Mr.  Lewger,  and  Mr.  Chandler  had  been  also  a mem- 
ber of  council.  The  oath  of  fidelity  was  repealed  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  restrained,  declaring  that 
none  who  professed  it  should  be  protected  either  by  the  laws  of 
the  kingdom  or  of  the  commonwealth.  Such  laws  were  passed 
as  would  protect  other  sects,  except  Episcopalians,  who  were 
prohibited  from  prelacy  or  government  by  bishops,  &c.  and  ten- 
dering the  lands  to  emigrants  on  the  original  conditions.  The 
terms  of  Assemblies  were  now  fixed  at  three  years. 

It  seems  that  the  Virginians  wanted  again  to  renew  their 
claims  to  Maryland  during  these  troublesome  times ; at  least  the 
parliament  commissioners  charged  Lord  Baltimore  with  going  to 
the  King  at  Oxford  and  having  commanded  Stone’s  opposition 
to  their  authority ; wishing  themselves  to  annex  this  province 
to  that  which  they  governed,  as  may  be  seen  in  Thurlor’s  state 
papers ; but  Cromwell,  who  knew  how  to  divide  and  reign,  by 
letters  to  his  Governors  in  1655  and  1656  interposed  his  author- 
ity ; nor  would  he  suffer  the  disputes  of  the  Swedes  and  Dutch 
on  the  northern  frontier  to  disturb  the  pacific  policy  he  had  now 
determined  to  maintain  towards  those  powers,  while  he  was  ex- 
tending the  British  dominions  in  the  West  Indies  at  the  expense 
of  Spain.  It  was  at  this  period  that  New-Castle  and  Christeen 
''changed  masters,  being  taken  from  Rizing  the  Swedish  Gov- 
ernor, by  Stuy vesant  the  Governor  of  New-Netherlands. 

Then  too,  there  arose  in  Maryland  an  individual  who  resem- 
bled the  Protector,  in  dissimulation  if  not  in  courage,  called 
S 


IS 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EAHLY 


Josias  Fendall,  who  gave  his  commissioners  much  trouble  and 
had  mainly  contributed  to  the  late  civil  wars,  the  dangers  of 
which,  one  might  think,  would  outweigh  any  personal  advantage 
he  could  expect  from  them.  After  holding  one  other  Assem- 
bly in  1657,  in  which  was  passed  an  act  of  recognition ; and 
laying  an  assessment  of  thirty-two  pounds  of  tobacco  per  poll, 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  Fendall's  w ar,  and  other  charges;  the 
commissioners  surrendered  the  government  to  this  man,  who 
had  intrigued  or  manceuvred  so  well  as  to  be  trusted  with  a 
commission  from  Lord  Baltimore.  Fendall  in  fact  summoned 
together  the  two  houses  of  Assembly  in  1658,  to  meet  at  St. 
Leonards,  having  created  a new  county  which  he  named  Charles, 
as  a compliment  to  the  future  King  or  Proprietary,  for  that 
was  the  name  of  Cecilius’  son,  and  before  the  death  of 
Cromwell,  in  which  a few  laws  of  ordinary  import  were  passed  ; 
he  also  held  a provincial  court,  Philip  Calvert,  Esq.  a brother 
of  the  Proprietary,  being  Secretary  and  Richard  Smith,  Esq. 
Attorney-general ; whose  decisions  are  the  first  reported  by 
Harris  and  M‘ Henry  ; but,  in  1659  the  Assembly  were  called 
together  at  Thomas  Gerrard’s,  to  dissolve  the  upper-house.  The 
Governor,  pressed  by  Thomas  Slye,  Esq.  the  speaker,  who  had 
been  one  of  Cromwell’s  commissioners  four  years  before  the 
above  Thomas  Gerrard,  though  he  had  been  a councillor  under 
Brent  and  Stone,  and  colonel  Nathaniel  Utie,  who  had  been 
made  one  in  1658  by  Fendall  himself,  under  instructions  from 
the  Proprietary  to  him,  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  charter 
invested  the  power  of  making  laws  in  the  burgesses  only.  Af- 
ter joining  with  them,  he  accepted  a new  commission  from 
them  as  Governor;  and,  new  modelled  like  the  commonwealth 
of  England,  they  with  his  consent  repealed  all  former  acts,  dis- 
guising the  treachery  to  the  proprietary,  under  a feigned  loyalty 
to  the  King  whose  restoration  they  anticipated,  and  whose  do- 
minion they  would  probably  have  preferred.  The  councillors  or 
members  of  the  upper-house,  who  protested  and  did  not,  like 
the  three  last  mentioned,  take  seats  in  the  other  house,  were  the 
late  Governor  Stone,  Secretary  Calvert,  colonel  John  Price, 
Job  Chandler,  Robert  Clarke,  Baker  Brooke,  who  was  a 
nephew  of  the  Proprietary,  Edward  Lloyd,  esquires,  and  Doctor 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


19 


Luke  Barber,  whom  Fendall  himself  had  during  a late  absence, 
made  his  deputy.  The  Governor  however  exerted  the  force  of 
the  colony  to  maintain  its  limits  against  the  Dutch,  and  sent  colo- 
nel Utie  to  New-Castle  to  warn  them  away.  Utie  who  was  re- 
appointed councillor  by  the  Proprietary,  and  more  of  a soldier 
perhaps  than  politician,  took  up  land  in  Baltimore  county, 
which  was  then  first  erected  : whether  by  law'  or  by  order  of  the 
Governor,  does  not  appear,  but  was  represented  in  the  Assembly 
the  same  year,  and  is  sufficient  evidence  of  the  fact.  Counties 
were  created  sometimes  by  a proclamation  of  the  Governor,  but 
it  seems  that  the  appointment  of  commissioners  or  justices,  was 
alone  sufficient  in  some  instances,  and  was  probably  the  case 
as  to  this  county. 

Immmediately  after  Charles  the  second  was  restored, 
the  Proprietary  appointed  his  brother  and  late  Secretary 
of  the  province,  Philip  Calvert,  Esq.  to  be  Governor,  accompa- 
nied with  instructions  from  the  King,  “to  all  officers  and  sub- 
jects, to  be  aiding  in  the  re-establishment  of  his  lordship’s  just 
rights  and  jurisdictions.”  The  Proprietary  also  obtained  by  de- 
cision of  commissioners  in  England,  a confirmation  of  his 
father’s  patent  for  Avalon,  which  had  been  granted  to  the  Mar- 
quis of  Hamilton  and  others,  at  the  commencement  of  the  civil 
war. 

Baker  Brooke,  John  Bateman,  Robert  Clarke,  and  Edwrard 
Lloyd,  esquires,  were  councillors;  Henry  Coursey,  esq.  council- 
lor, secretary  and  commissary,  Thos.  Manning,  esq.  was  attor- 
ney-general,  and  Mr.  Brooke  succeeded  Mr.  Clarke  as  surveyor- 
general.  By  his  own  instructions,  the  quit  rents  and  alienation 
fines  were  fixed  at  four  shillings  sterling,  per  one  hundred  acres 
yearly,  for  the  former ; and  though  the  rents  were  fixed  in 
money  only,  his  agents  were  at  liberty  to  take  wheat  or  other 
produce  at  a fair  price,  as  the  contracts  stipulated  for  a long 
time,  and  he  occasionally  accepted  of  the  old  or  half  rents  of 
two  shillings. 

Fendall  and  Gerrard  were  condemned  to  be  banished,  but 
having  surrendered  themselves,  the  punishment  was  changed  to 
fine  and  disqualification  to  office ; a lenity  which,  in  this  in- 
stance, as  in  others  to  be  found  in  our  history,  was  paid  by  fu- 
ture treacherous  and  ungrateful  acts. 


20 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


The  former  privileges  of  the  colony  were  renewed,  as  fully 
as  if  the  Proprietary  had  suffered  no  privations  in  England,  or 
his  Catholic  brethren  no  persecutions  in  Maryland  ; and  the 
Governor  assembled  the  tw-o  houses  early  in  1661.  The  very 
first  act  they  passed,  and  perhaps  the  first  of  the  kind  in  Ame- 
rica, was  to  provide  a public  maintainance  for  those  who  should 
be  maimed  in  defence  of  their  country.  There  was  immediate 
necessity  for  levies,  to  quell  the  Indians,  called  Janadoas,  proba- 
bly from  the  country  beyond  the  Patowmack,  about  the  Shen- 
andoah, and  the  governor  was  authorised  to'  Call  in  the  aid  of  the 
Susquehannahs;  which  in  our  ancestors,  was  not  a policy  dictated 
by  ambition,  but  a necessary  resort  for  safety  from  savage  na- 
tions which  must  have  overpowered  them  if  united,  and  no 
doubt  a principal  means  of  their  triumph  over  unequal  numbers. 
Further  to  relieve  the  trade  of  the  country,  a mint  wras  estab-< 
lished,  and  the  only  one  on  the  continent  except  in  Massachu- 
setts, where  it  was  objected  to  by  the  crown,  as  an  encroach- 
ment on  its  prerogative.  Hero  shillings  were  to  be  coined, 
containing  at  least  nine  pence  worth  of  sterling  silver : not 
from  mines,  which  our  ancestors  never  sought,  but  from  the  fruits 
of  their  industry  ; which  w^ere  to  be  put  into  circulation  in  re- 
turn for  tobacco,  at  two  pence  per  pound,  and  thus  the  curren- 
cy was  fixed  as  it  continued  until  the  war  of  independence,  at 
6s.  for  a dollar,  or  135  1-3  per  cent  sterling.  The  British  nation 
were  so  much  gratified  with  the  abolition  of  certain  feudal  or 
military  tenures  personally  degrading,  by  the  reformers,  that 
the  King  gave  his  assent  to  an  act  for  its  ratification,  and  h^dis- 
fiked  the  Dutch,  who,  until  that  time,  maintained  the  greatest 
trade  with  the  province ; but  the  acts  of  the  English  Parlia- 
ment, revived  or  lately  enacted,  prohibiting  the  exportation  of 
the  staple  articles,  such  as  sugar,  tobacco,  cotton,  indigo,  &c. 
from  the  colonies  to,  or  the  importation  of  any  articles  from 
any  foreign  dominions  ; confining  all  the  trade  and  navigation 
to  British  subjects,  which,  it  is  true,  was  admitted  to  include 
the  colonists,  excepting  only  the  ports  of  India  and  within  the 
straights ; and  subjecting*  the  imports  from  the  colonies  into 
England,  and  the  exports  into  them  from  thence,  to  a shilling  in 
the  pound  value,  were  so  many  instances  of  the  readiness  of 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


SI 


the  Commons  and  the  King  to  continue  the  measure  s die  late 
government, where  policy  or  interest  seemed  to  sanction  or  require 
it.  With  a due  sense  of  their  interests,  if  not  power  to  enforce 
their  rights  as  Englishmen  and  parties  in  the  empire,  entitled 
to  trade  every  where  under  proper  regulations  ; the  govern- 
ment of  Maryland  retaliated  by  the  establishment  of  port  or 
anchorage  duties,  which  were  to  be  paid  the  Proprietary,  of  half 
a pound  of  powder  and  three  pounds  of  shot,  or  so  much  in 
value,  for  every  ton  of  burthen  of  “ all  vessels,  whatsoever  not 
properly  belonging  to  this  province,  having  a deck  flush  fore 
and  aft,  coming  in  and  trading.” 

As  a further  proof  of  the  interest  Lord  Baltimore  took  in 
the  colony,  he  sent  out  his  only  son,  Charles,  to  be  Governor 
in  1662;  and  who  though  a youth,  appeared  to  have  inherited 
the  energy  as  well  as  the  virtues  of  his  father. 

The  late  Governor  Calvert  was  appointed  deputy  Governor 
and  chancellor  ; and  except  in  two  or  three  instances  afterwards, 
the  only  case  where  that  office  was  separated  from  the  Gov-* 
ernor,  or  Governor  and  councillors  for  the  time  being.  It  be- 
ing also  of  the  first  importance  to  have  men  of  talent  in  such 
an  office,  the  Proprietary  appointed  Mr.  Jerome  White  survey- 
or-general, with  instructions  to  lay  off  two  or  three  hundred 
acres  of  land,  which  were  to  be  in  St.  Mary’s,  at  the  usual  quit 
rent,  for  the  express  purpose  of  planting  vines,  some  wine  hav- 
ing been  already  made  in  Virginia  before  the  establishment  of 
our  colony;  but  fashion  and  private  interest  prevailed  over  pub- 
lic utility  in  both,  and  tobacco  continued  to  be  the  principal  or 
only  staple.  Mr.  White  who  was  to  have  the  vineyard,  was 
also  made  a member  of  council  afterwards. 

By  one  of  the  first  acts  under  the  administration  of  the  new 
Governor  it  was  declared  that,  where  the  laws  of  the  province 
had  not  otherwise  provided,  justice  should  be  administered  ac- 
cording to  the  statutes  and  practice  in  England  ; which  though 
it  was  a mere  revival  of  one  of  the  first  of  the  provincial  laws, 
produced  an  act  of  gratitude,  providing  twenty-five  pounds  of 
tobaccfi  per  poll  for  his  ow  n use,  and  which  was  continued  annu- 
ally as  long  as  his  father  lived.  It  was  more  common  after- 
wards, and  under  all  the  different  administrations,  to  allow  the 


22 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EA.RLY 


Governor  three  pence  a hogshead  on  Tobacco  exported,  in  ad- 
dition to  such  salaries  as  wrere  granted  by  the  government. 
Provision  was  made  for  the  appointment  of  a Coroner  in  each 
county  by  the  Executive,,  who  also  appointed  the  Sheriffs,  which 
officer  with  the  commissioners  held  the  elections,  and  the  lat- 
ter appointed  the  constables.  The  Governor  prepared  an  expe- 
dition against  the  Dutch  settlement  at  the  Hoarkill , now  called 
Lewistown,  where  they  had  levied  duties  on  the  trade  of  the 
Delaware,  but  which  those  people,  anticipating  the  fate  of  their 
colony  and  yielding  to  the  solicitations  of  the  Proprietary  him- 
self with  Holland,  abandoned  on  his  son’s  approach  ; and  Beck- 
man the  Dutch  Governor,  received  and  entertained  our  Gov- 
ernor at  New-Castle.  Particular  encouragement  was  given  to 
such  as  should  take  up  lands  and  settle  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Lewistown,  undeV  our  Proprietary,  to  secure  the  possesion  no 
doubt.  Parliament  entirely  suppressed  the  growth  of  tobacco 
in  England  and  permitted  the  colonists  to  import  salt  and  Ma- 
deira wine  direct  in  1763. 

Although  patents  were  granted  for  lands  in  Baltimore 
county  to  Colonel  Utie  and  others,  during  Fendall’s  adminis- 
tration in  1759,  it  was  immediately  represented  in  Assembly, 
and  courts  were  held  in  it  two  years  after,  to  pass  those  titles, 
“ An  act  for  seating  of  lands  in  Baltimore  county,”  introduced 
in  1664,  was  rejected  by  the  Proprietary  ; probably  because  he 
judged  the  extension  of  the  then  settlements  on  the  west  side  of 
the  bay  premature  while  there  was  danger  from  enemies  at 
home  or  abroad.  But  an  act  for  quieting  possessions  and  en- 
rolling conveyances  was  duly  sanctioned,  and  so  were  others  for 
the  encouragement  of  trade  and  manufactures ; one  for  in- 
stance, for  preserving  the  harbours  and  another  to  prevent  the 
exportation  of  wool.  Colonel  Utie  and  Colonel  William 
Evans  were  appointed  councillors,  and  Wm.  Calvert,  Esq.  a 
nephew  of  the  Proprietary,  attorney-general,  and  afterwards 
commissary-general,  being  the  first  commission  in  which 
this  office  was  taken  from  the  Secretary, 

Another  expedition  was  sent  from  England  to  New-Nether- 
lands  to  expel  the  Dutch,  and  Stuvvesant  surrended  the  colo- 
ny to  Colonel  Nicolls  : and  the  whole  remaining  to  England  bv 

O © «r 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND# 


23 


the  treaty  of  peace  in  1667,  was  granted  to  the  Duke  of  York, 
which  finally  deprived  Lord  Baltimore  of  the  lands  bordering 
on  this  side  of  the  Delaware,  from  its  mouth  to  Philadelphia. 
By  the  treaty  of  Breda,  each  party  retained  its  conquests,  and 
the  Dutch  having  taken  Surinam,  got  out  of  a neighborhood 
which  they  had  found  troublesome,  on  advatageous  terms. 

In  1665,  the  Proprietary  gave  his  sun,  then  Governor,  and 
his  male  heirs,  a reversion  of  almost  all  his  manors  and  directed 
more  to  be  laid  off  for  him. 

In  1666,  an  act  was  passed  authorising  the  Governor  and 
council  to  make  war  or  peace  with  hostile  Indians,  and  another 
to  prohibit  tlra  planting  of  tobacco  for  one  year  ; not  as  was  con- 
templated in  England  in  James’  reign,  to  prevent  the  use  of  it, 
but  to  raise  the  value ; for  the  article,  which  on  its  first  intro- 
duction and  for  some  time  after,  sustained  the  price  of  six  and 
eight  shillings  sterling  per  pound,  was  now  passed  in  payment 
here  at  6s.  per  100.  It  appears  that  the  quantity  already  pro- 
duced so  far  exceeded  the  demand,  that,  in  Virginia,  the 
growth  was  also  prohibited  and  the  number  of  negroes  was  con- 
sidered a grievance  ; it  was  scarcely  less  so  to  persist  in  a cul- 
ture which  cleared  and  rendered  sterile  the  uplands  while  the 
low  and  fertile  vallies  were  reserved  for  the  sake  of  timber,  no 
otherwise  cultivated  then  or  since  ; but  Lord  Baltimore  disap- 
proved of  a measure  so  much  like  self-destruction,  and  declar- 
ed the  proposed  act  would  be  injurious  to  the  people  as  well  as 
to  the  revenues  from  the  customs.  Many  of  the  Puritans  had  em- 
igrated from  Virginia,  where  they  were  persecuted  by  the  Epis- 
copalians, and  people  of  that  and  other  sects  from  N.  England, 
where  the  Puritans  persecuted  them.  It  appears  too  that  the 
people  called  Quakers,  resorted  to  Maryland  for  protection,  be- 
fore a refuge  was  prepared  for  them  in  Jersey  or  Pennsylva- 
nia, being  better  received  here  than  either  in  south  or  north 
Virginia  ; but  this  colony  acquired  new  accessions  of  Swedes 
and  Dutch,  disturbed  in  their  settlements  first  by  the  contests 
among  themselves  and  afterwards  by  the  hostilities  of  the  Bri- 
tish and  the  Dutch  about  the  New-Netherlands.  Emigrants 
also  arrived  from  the  continent  ot  Europe  disturbed  by  the  rev- 
olutions in  Portugal  and  the  Netherlands  and  Lewis  XIV’s.  pro- 
scription of  Protestants.  The  acts  of  naturalization  passed  this 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


year,  were  certainly  among  the  first  of  the  kind  passed  in  any 
of  the  colonies,  and  we  find  the  names  of  families  then  or  soon 
after  naturalized,  still  familiar  in  some  parts  of  Maryland  ; 
such  as  Van  Swearingen,  Lockerman,  Van  Bibber,  Hesselius, 
Comegys,  JLe  Compte,  Maynadier,  ike.  though  the  British  gov- 
ernment would  not  allow  those  acts  to  convey  any  of  the  rights 
or  privileges  of  British  subjects  out  of  the  colony  ; and  so  it  was 
admitted  here  afterwards ; yet  it  soon  fell  out  with  the  Catho- 
lics of  Maryland,  as  it  had  done  with  the  Quakers  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, since  their  liberal  policy  brought  them  to  be  the  minority 
of  the  people  and  the  government  fell  from  their  hands.  The 
governor  and  council  erected  a new  county  by  the  name  of 
Somerset,  and  it  is  thought  Dorchester  also,  though  the  latter 
was  not  represented  in  the  assembly  until  three  years  after. 

The  division  line  from  YVatkin’s  Point  across  the  peninsula 
to  the  sea,  was  fixed  in  1668,  by  Philip  Calvert,  Esq.  and  a 
commissioner  from  Virginia : but  the  line  on  the  west  is  that  set- 
tled by  treaty  with  the  Indians,  in  1744. 

In  1669  persons  desirous  of  erecting  grist-mills  were  per- 
mitted to  take  up  seats  of  twenty  acres  on  either  side  of  a 
stream,  by  valuation  of  juries,  and  hold  the  same  eighty  years ; 
the  tolls  being  fixed  at  one  eighth  of  the  bushel  of  wheat  and  one 
sixth  of  the  corn;  such  at  least  were  the  terms  prescribed  by  the 
act  of  1704,  which  from  the  title  appears  to  be  a similar  act. 
Acts  were  also  passed  making  tobacco  a legal  tender  for  money 
debts,  making  highways,  limiting  ordinary  or  tavern-keepers, 
and  providing  freight  for  the  proprietary’s  and  governor’s  to- 
bacco and  other  goods.  A grant  of  lands  was  made  by  act 
of  assembly  to  the  confederate  Indians  of  Choptank,  and,  in 
1698,  other  lands  were  granted  to  the  Nanticoke  Indians  in 
the  same  neighborhood,  on  leases  of  a few  beaver  skins  an- 
nually; in  the  first  instance,  to  them  and  their  heirs  forever, 
but  in  the  latter  instance,  to  them  and  their  heirs  and  succes- 
sors forever,  or  so  long  as  they  shall  occupy  and  live  upon  the 
same,  and  confirmed  by  succeeding  laws. 

In  1669,  the  proprietary  determined  that  those  only  then 
arrived,  and  settlers  on  the  Delaware,  should  have  lands  at 
2s.  per  100  acres,  others  to  pay  at  the  rate  of  four  shillings. 
In  this  year  the  governor  appointed  lus  uncle  Philip  Calvert, 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


25 

his  cousin  William  Calvert,  and  Messrs.  White  and  Brooke, 
his  deputies,  paid  a visit  to  his  father  in  England,  and  was  ab- 
* sent  the  ensuing  year. 

In  1 771,  the  proprietary  directed  two  manorsof  six  thousand 
acres  each,  to  be  laid  oil*  and  reserved  in  each  county,  where  it 
had  not  been  done  ; a part  of  which  was  to  be  at  the  disposal  of 
his  son  and  heir , Charles,  the  governor.  The  assembly  repeal- 
ed the  acts  for  the  support  of  the  proprietary  of  1G49  and  1050, 
it  being  intended  to  raise  supplies  by  duties  on  tobacco,  accord- 
ly  two  shillings  sterling  per  hogshead  was  imposed  on  all  to- 
bacco exported  ; one  half  to  defray  the  charges  of  government, 
and  the  other  for  the  proprietary,  lie  receiving  the  quit  rents  and 
alienation  fines  in  that  article  at  two  pence  per  pound. 

This  was  to  be  collected  during  his  life,  but  was  afterwards 
re-enacted  for  the  life  of  his  son  Charles  and  grandson  Cecilius. 
As  the  price  of  the  article  varied,  it  is  evident  the  value  of 
the  grant  varied  also;  the  proprietary  received  less  than  his  rent 
at  one  time  and  more  at  another,  so  that  after  many  disputes 
on  this  subject,  money  was  aloue  paid  at  last  by  oiler  of  the 
assembly  itself,  but  the  vague  terms  used  caused  much  of  the 
difficulty.  Acts  were  also  passed  to  establish  a standard  of 
weights  and  measures,  which  fortunately  for  the  colonists  gen- 
erally, was  taken  by  all  from  one  English  standard,  and  is  there- 
fore of  great  facility  in  their  commercial  intercourse  ; to  en- 
courage the  growth  of  hemp  and  flax  ; to  establish  rates  for  the 
sale  of  goods  by  retail,  foreign  engrossers  being  proscribed  be- 
fore. The  importation  of  negroes  was  also  encouraged  ; for  it 
was  said,  there  were  still  a greater  number  of  servants  than 
slaves  in  the  province. 

There  appears  to  have  been  no  meeting  of  the  assembly  from 
this  time  during  two  or  three  years;  and  it  was  possibly,  be- 
cause the  parliament  had  undertaken  to  make  laws  for  the  colo- 
nists, as  disagreeable  to  the  proprietary  and  governor  as  to. 
them.  The  regulations  to  w'hich  the  ministry  subjected  the 
colonies,  under  the  navigation  acts  or  otherwise,  had  produced 
new  appeals  from  their  authority  to  the  house  of  commons,  and 
the  nation  having  just  gone  to  w ar,  parliament  took  the  opportu- 
nity to  draw  new  aids  from  settlements  which  they  now  deemed 


SKETCHES  GE  THE  EARL1 


26 

fixed  if  not  wealthy,  by  taxing  the  products  on  their  exportation, 
though  it  was  contrary  to  the  express  terms  of  the  twentieth 
article  of  the  charter.  Tobacco  for  instance,  by  an  act  of  1662, 
might  be- sent  to  some  foreign  countries,  but  going  there,  was 
to  pay  a certain  duty  at  the  place  of  shipment ; if  no  duty  was 
to  be  paid,  bonds  were  to  be  given  to  unlade  in  England,  Ire- 
land or  the  colonies  ; the  commissioners  of  customs  in  England 
were  to  appoint  the  collectors  of  this  duty,  and  provision  was 
made  for  taxing  oil  and  fins  imported  into  England  in  colonial 
ships,  while  such  importations  in  British  ships  were  exempt. 
No  legislative  act  was  passed  here  to  enforce  the  duties  at  the 
time  ; but,  by  the  appointment  of  the  governor  himself,  as  agent 
for  the  commissioners,  the  collection  was  at  least  partially  effect- 
ed through  his  address  and  vigilance;  and  with  a view  of  pre- 
venting the  exactions  of  strangers  in  office  perhaps,  he  con- 
tinued collector  of  these  duties  until  he  became  proprietary  of 
the  colony  himself. 

A Mr.  Jones  and  other  Marylanders,  took  possession  of 
Lewistown  and  plundered  the  British  officers  fixed  there  by  the 
government  of  New- York  ; of  which  Mr.  Lovelace,  the  governor 
of  that  province,  addressed  a serious  remonstrance  to  our  depu- 
ty governor,  Philip  Calvert,  esquire,  immediately;  the  effect  of 
which  is  unknown  to  us. 

There  w as  at  this  time  a prerogative  court,  in  w hich  the 
chancellor  presided,  but  the  commissary-general  continued  to 
appoint  deputies  in  the  counties, 

In  1673,  lord  Baltimore  authorised  the  leasing  of  his  manor 
lands,  except  about  one  tenth  of  each  for  a mansion,  for  terms 
of  years  not  exceeding  thirty,  or  three  lives  ; fixing  the  rents 
thereof  at  the  price  of  the  quit  rents  generally,  with  a condition 
of  clearing,  enclosing,  planting  an  orchard,  &c.  and  a small  fee 
or  alienation  fine,  continued  to  be  collected  on  sales,  though  not 
always  on  devises,  during  the  proprietary  government. 

In  1674,  the  governor  returned  and  created  a new  county, 
which  he  named  after  his  father  Cecil,  for  Cecilius.  Provision 
was  made  by  law  for  erectiug  a state-house  and  prison  at  St. 
Mary’s,  as  well  as  a court-house  and  prison  in  each  county, 
and  for  subsidiz.ii^g  the  Susquehanna  Indians,  against  the  Sene- 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


27 


cas.  The  latter  are  stated  to  have  had  one  thousand  fighting 
men,  and  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  with  the  Mohawks 
and  others,  excited  to  partake  in  hostilities  by  the  Butch  admi- 
ral Binkes,  who  recovered  New -York  from  Manning  the  deputy- 
comandant,  the  year  before  ; but  peace  being  made  again  at  the 
very  time  governor  Calvert  had  prepared  an  expedition  against 
them  at  Lewistown,  the  whole  was  restored  this  year  to  sir  Ed- 
mond Andross  and  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  English  by 
treaty  ; as  that  of  1667,  secured  to  the  parties  their  respective 
conquests,  and  this,  the  restoration  of  conquests  on  either 
side. 

By  the  death  of  Cecilius  on  the  SOth  of  November,  1675, 
the  titles  and  estates  of  Lord  Baltimore,  descended  to  his  son 
Charles,  then  governor  of  Maryland.  The  late  Lord  Balti- 
more was  about  seventy-three  years  old  when  he  died  ; his 
mother  was  Anne,  daughter  of  George  Mynne,  esq.  of  Herting- 
fordbury  in  Hertfordshire,  and  his  lady  w?as  Anne,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Arundel,  Earl  of  Arundel  of  Wardour,  and  Count  of 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

The  new  proprietary  called  an  assembly  for  the  purpose  of 
revising  all  the  laws,  confirming  and  rendering  many  salutary 
ones  perpetual,  w hile  the  new  ones  could  be  immediately  sanc- 
tioned by  his  presence  in  the  colony.  Among  the  latter,  we  find 
acts  for  the  recovery  of  small  debts  and  limitations  of  officers 
fees;  against  the  exportation  of  corn  and  the  importation  of 
convicts,  then  becoming  the  practice  of  the  British  government, 
but  uniformly  ahd  earnestly  opposed  here.  After  providing 
for  the  defence  of  the  colonists  by  a new  organization  of  the 
militia,  he  left  the  province  under  the  nominal  government  of  his 
infant  sen  Cecilius,  but  virtually  under  his  deputy,  colonel  Jesse 
Wharton,  who  was  president  of  the  council,  and  returned  to 
England,  not  so  much  probably  to  enjoy  any  honors  which  await- 
ed him  there,  as  to  defend  himself  and  his  interests  here. 

It  is  stated  that  Cecilius,  Lord  Baltimore,  had  occupied  a seat 
in  the  parliament  of  England  before  the  revolution,  but  it  does 
not  appear  that  he  ever  took  his  seat  among  the  lords  in  Ireland ; 
that  he  had  expended  40,000J  sterling  in  the  first  establishment 


28 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


of  the  province,  and  had  even  been  obliged  to  take  advances  in 
England  from  some  of  the  colonists,  but  his  protracted  life  al- 
forded  him  an  opportunity  to  receive  some  interest  for  his  mo- 
ney in  their  affections,  if  not  in  actual  revenue.  During  his 
proprietary  ship,  which,  including  the^short  period  of  the  revolu- 
tion, the  people  had  explored  and  partially  settled  ail  the  shores 
of  the  bay;  they  had  many  allies  among  the  indians  and  were 
never  overpowered  by  any  of  them  alone ; they  knew  their  own 
rights,  and  generally  enjoyed  them.  A press  was  maintained  in 
the  colony  from  an  early  period  ; which,  after  the  accession  of 
William  and  Marv,  is  said  by  Mr.  Chalmers  to  be  the  only  one  ; 
and  the  most  perfect  liberty  of  conscience  then  legally  existing. 
Though  the  governor  and  proprietary  were  Roman  Catholics, 
there  were,  it  was  said,  thirty  Protestants  for  one  Catholic  in 
the  colony  at  the  time  of  the  latter’s  decease;  there  was  no  es- 
tablishment but  glebe  lands,  nor  tythes  or  stipend  for  clergy- 
men; an  asylum  was  offered  to  persons  of  all  sects  and  nations; 
there  never  was  but  one  officer  appointed  during  life,  nor  any 
title  of  nobility  created;  latterly  the  proprietary  advised  his  son 
to  recommend  some  distinction  of  dress  or  otherwise,  for  the 
governor,  judges  and  officers  of  the  colony,  as  adopted  here 
afterwards;  the  judges  at  this  time  and  previously,  wearing 
only  a ribband  and  medal;  having  readily  abandoned  all  ideas  of 
feudal  establishments  in  it,  if  he  had  ever  wished  to  exercise  the 
powers  of  the  charter  in  this  respect. 

In  the  infancy  of  the  establishment,  the  people  looked  up  to 
Lord  Baltimore  as  to  a common  father,  and  when  their  popula- 
tion amounted  it  is  said,  to  nearly  twenty  thousand,  they  con- 
tinued their  acts  of  gratitude  ; and  never,  as  far  as  we  have 
discovered,  did  he  complain  of  the  want  of  it.  It  is  with  great 
justice  and  truth  observed  by  Doctor  Ramsay,  in  his  History  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  that,  “the  prosperity  of  the  colony  was 
founded  on  the  broad  basis  of  security  to  property  and  freedom 
in  religion,  and  never,”  continues  this  historian  in  the  language 
of  Mr.  Chalmers,  “did  a people  enjoy  more  happiness  than  the 
inhabitants  of  Maryland  under  Cecilius,  the  founder  of  the  pro- 
vince.” 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


29 


Col or  el  "Wharton  died  soon  after  his  appointment  of  deputy 
governor,  but  commissioned  Thomas  Notley,  esq.  who  had  filled 
that  office  before,  to  succeed  him.  In  the  mean  time,  that  is  in 
1676,  a devise  of  real  and  personal  estate  made  by  Mr.  Robert 
Cadger,  of  St.  Mary’s,  for  the  maintenance  of  a Protestant  min- 
istry, was,  on  the  representation  of  the  Mayor,  Recorder,  &c. 
duly  confirmed  by  act  of  assembly  and  by  the  proprietary,  and 
that  corporation  made  trustee  thereof. 

In  1677,  colonel  Coursey,  one  of  the  council,  and  afterwards 
chief  justice  of  the  provincial  court,  negociated  a peace  with  the 
, Senecas  and  the  rest  of  the  Five  Nations,  at  Albany,  for  Mary- 
land and  Virginia.  To  this  confederacy  of  Indians,  was  added 
the  Tuscarora’s  about  thirty-five  years  after,  making  the  Six 
Nations. 

In  1678,  Edward  Husbands,  a practitioner  of  medicine,  being 
charged  with  an  attempt  to  poison  the  governor  and  council, 
and  abusing  and  cursing  the  delegates,  was  ordered  by  them  to 
be  whipped  ; but  he  probably  escaped  the  fine  which  was  im- 
posed on  him,  and  the  prohibition  to  practice,  by  Lord  Balti- 
more’s dissent  to  the  act  on  his  return. 

In  1680,  John  Llevvellin,  esq.  was  appointed  clerk  and  regis- 
ter of  the  land  office,  which  was  then  first  separated  from  the 
duties  of  secretary,  and  both  judges  and  registers  were  sepa- 
rately appointed  at  different  times,  until  as  last,  they  were  only 
deputies  or  clerks.  The  indulgences  which  Charles  the  second 
was  now. disposed  to  show  the  dissenters  produced  new  in- 
trigues against  his  government,  while  it  was  suspected  in  parlia- 
ment, that  the  king  only  intended  by  the  changes,  to  afford  more 
liberty  to  the  Catholics;  and,  as  if  to  screen  themselves,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  ministry  listened  to  some  unfounded  charges 
against  the  proprietary;  as,  that  he  promoted  the  aggrandize- 
ment of  the  Roman  priests,  and  permitted  much  licentiousness 
in  the  people. 

The  government  of  Virginia  too,  had  sent  complaints  that 
Lord  Baltimore  had  forced  them  to  pay  anchorage  in  the  Pa- 
towmack,  and  had  not  taken  his  part  in  opposing  the  Indians. 
To  the  former,  w hich  was  done  by  act  of  assembly,  he  had  a 
chartered  right,  if  not  a natural  one,  as  the  river  to  the  South 


30 


sketches  of  the  early 


shore  was  within  his  limits ; and  of  the  rest,  he  proved  their 
falsehood  and  absurdity;  after  which,  in  1681,  he  returned  to 
Maryland,  where  his  presence  became  more  and  more  necessa- 
ry, from  the  same  sort  of  cabal  transferred  from  the  parent 
state  to  the  colony,  and  which  had  actually  overthrown  the 
royal  government  in  Virginia,  where  the  disaffected  were  head- 
ed by  one  Nathaniel  Bacon,  a young  lawyer. 

The  same  Josias  Fendall,  before  spoken  of,  and  one  John 
Coode  were  immediately  arrested,  presented  and  tried  for  sedi- 
tion : the  former  was  convicted,  fined  heavily  and  banished,  but 
the  latter  was  acquitted  and  lived  to  foment  future  disturbances* 
The  proprietary  also  called  two  assemblies  the  same  year,  where 
acts  were  passed  to  prevent  vexatious  law-suits,  and  for  bringing 
criminals  to  certain  and  speedy  trial ; restraining  the  exportation 
of  leather  and  raw  hides,  deer  and  elk  skins,  as  was  expressly 
declared  for  the  encouragement  of  tanners  and  shoemakers , and 
they  revised  the  militia  code,  in  order  to  afford  a stronger  de- 
fence against  the  Indians ; and  thus  also  to  allay  the  reproaches 
of  the  malcontents  in  the  adjoining  colony  as  well  as  his  own  pro-, 
vince. 

In  1682,  induced  by  the  same  just  and  pacific  policy,  acts 
were  passed  for  the  encouragement  of  tillage  and  raising  provi- 
sions; for  sowing  hemp  and  flax  and  making  linen  and  woollen 
cloths;  and,  to  prevent  the  exactions  of  the  custom-house  officers, 
country  ships  were  expressly  exempted  from  the  tonnage  duty 
imposed  by  the  colony,  as  was  also  declared  by  some  of  the  acts. 

Mr.  Markham,  the  agent  of  Wm.  Penn,  esq.  arrived  in  the  De- 
laware the  year  before,  and  had  an  interview  with  the  proprie- 
tary of  Maryland,  and  now  the  proprietary  of  Pennsylvania 
himself  waited  on  him  for  the  purpose  of  a settlement  of  limits. 
Our  proprietary  received  the  latter  on  the  Severn ; but  as  if 
etiquette  required  less,  he  met  the  former  at  Chester  on  the 
Delaware,  which  they  discovered  to  be  within  Lord  Baltimore’s 
lines.  Mr.  Penn  had  been  one  of  the  Jersey  Company,  and  the 
duke  of  York  had  made  him  a present  of  New  Castle  and  twelve 
miles  round,  before  he  obtained  a cession  of  the  counties  of  Kent 
and  Sussex;  and  in  consequence  of  these  acquisitions,  he  had 
already  written  to  Messrs.  Frisby  ami  Herman,  inhabitants  of 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


31 


the  eastern  side  of  the  bay,  that  they  were  settled  within  his 
province,  and  must  pay  their  rents  and  taxes  accordingly.  In 
their  interviews,  the  proprietary  of  Pennsylvania  exhibited  a let- 
ter from  the  king,  which  directed  Lord  Baltimore  to  measure 
his  limits  from  Watkins’  Point  on  the  south,  two  degrees  of 
sixty  miles  each  only;  which  of  course  fell  short  of  the  fortieth 
degree  of  north  latitude  ; but  our  proprietary  answered,  “ that 
a royal  mandate  could  not  deprive  him  of  what  had  been  grant- 
ed under  the  great  seal.”  With  the  dignity  of  character  display- 
ed in  that  language  towards  his  sovereign,  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  declare  to  his  immediate  opponent  and  fellow  subject,  that 
the  king  had  been  imposed  upon;  and  it  is  not  surprising  that 
people  who  had  lived  under  his  government,  or  on  the  borders 
of  it,  should  prefer  such  a ruler.  It  seems  in  fact  many  did, 
and  colonel  George  Talbot,  a member  of  council,  surveyor  gen- 
eral, a deputy  governor  under  B.L.  Calvert  afterwards,  and 
probably  a son  of  sir  William  Talbot,  who  was  one  of  the 
council,  secretary  and  commissary -general  in  1670,  went  to 
Philadelphia  with  instructions  to  warn  Mr.  Penn  to  remove  from 
thence,  as  within  the  fortieth  degree  and  the  Maryland  grant. 
The  difficulty  was  caused  in  the  first  instance,  by  the  inability 
of  Lord  Baltimore  to  dispossess  the  Swedes,  if  not  by  the  re- 
spect which  he  owed  them  as  first  Christian  settlers,  by  his  char- 
ter or  otherwise,  or  by  the  want  of  it  in  others;  and  afterwards  in 
ascertaining  the  exact  limits  of  the  Dutch  settlements,  some 
references  and  reservations  suggested  by  our  proprietary’s 
agents  to  prevent  a misunderstanding,  had  been  overlooked  in 
the  draft  of  Mr.  Penn’s  charter,  though  considered  as  acceeded 
to  by  him,  when  that  act  was  submitted  to  those  agents. 

This  tenacious  gentleman  seems  to  have  thought  his  province 
not  worth  having,  if  there  was  not  an  outlet  by  the  Chesapeake 
as  well  as  by  the  Delaware,  to  which  our  proprietary  was  as 
firmly  opposed.  There  was  no  greater  chance  of  a settlement 
in  England,  where  both  proprietaries  soon  returned;  for  the  new 
king,  James  II.  was  inclined  to  annul  the  charter  of  Maryland, 
though  owned  by  a Catholic,  while  the  other  proprietary  was, 
preposterously  indeed,  accused  of  being  a Jesuit  priest,  for  the 
favor  he  enjoyed  ; though  afterwards,  so  perplexed  by  his  colo- 
nists and  his  creditors,  that  he  agreed  on  terms  for  the  sale  of 


32 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


Pennsylvania  to  queen  Anne,  as  Mr.  Proud  informs  us ; nor 
was  the  settlement  of  these  proprietary  disputes  terminated 
until  a little  before  the  independence  of  both  provinces. 

In  1683,  an  assembly  was  held  at  a place  called  the  Ridge, 
in  Anne  Arundel  county.  In  this  assembly  the  first  act  was 
passed  for  laying  out  towns,  entitled  “An  Act  for  the  advance- 
ment of  trade.”  There  were  to  be  four  towns  in  St.  Mary’s, 
two  in  Kent,  three  in  Anne  Arundel,  one  of  which  called  the 
Landing  at  Proctor’s  on  the  Severn,  became  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment not  long  after;  four  in  Calvert,  three  in  Charles,  four  in 
Talbot,  five  in  Somerset,  two  in  Dorchester,  two  in  Cecil,  and 
two  in  Baltimore  county,  none  of  which  towns  were  to  send 
burgesses  to  the  assembly  until  they  could  pay  their  expenses 
without  being  chargeable  on  their  respective  counties. 

Within  four  years  thirty-three  new  towns  were  created  by 
the  assembly;  returned  to  the  city  of  St.  Mary’s,  as  it  was  then 
called;  three  of  which  towns  were  within  the  limits  of  Baltimore 
county;  but  one  of  them,  on  Middle  River,  was  discontinued, 
with  others  in  Charles,  Somerset  and  Worcester  afterwards, 
and  none  of  them  exercised  the  privilege  of  representation,  or 
became  of  much  importance,  except  the  landing  on  Severn , 
when  it  became  the  seat  of  government,  by  the  name  of  Annapo- 
lis. The  making  and  unmaking  those  towns,  which,  though 
they  were  to  be  ports  or  places  of  landing  exclusively,  was  not 
apparently  attended  with  difficulty,  any  more  than  the  making 
and  unmaking  post-offices  in  our  days;  especially  as  the  lit- 
tle ground  appropriated  for  them  did  not  much  interfere  with 
the  culture  of  the  country.  It  w as,  however,  a circumstance  to 
be  regretted  in  respect  to  Baltimore,  which  was  afterwards 
made  a town  in  the  same  limited  manner.  There  is  no  doubt 
but  illegal  fees  had  been  frequently  exacted  on  the  takers  up  of 
land,  and  the  proprietary  limited  the  just  purchase  or  considera- 
tion, at  twro  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco  for  every  oue  hundred 
acres,  which,  when  credited  on  security  was  called  caution 
money,  and  other  fees  of  the  land  office.  The  caution  wa  in- 
creased afterwards  but  a long  credit  was  given,  or  it  w as  whoily 
relinquished  as  to  the  lands  of  the  Delaware,  and  between  the 
Patowmack  and  the  Susquehanna,  to  the  westward,  which  he  said 
might  be  seen  without  expense,  meaning  of  a guard  probably,  to 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


33 


which  the  first  settlers  were  subjected  no  doubt;  and  unneces- 
sary in  time  of  peace. 

Colonel  Henry  Coursey  was  appointed  by  special  commission 
chief  justice,  and  Thomas  Taillor,  Vincent  Lowe,  Henry  Dar- 
nall,  William  Digges,  William  Stevens,  William  Burgess  and 
Thomas  Trueman,  esquires,  associate  justices  of  the  provincial 
court,  when  the  council  ceased  to  hold  original  jurisdiction,  or 
to  sit  as  a court  of  law  in  the  first  instance.  The  number  of 
justices  was  less  or  more,  and  varied  according  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  executive ; aud  the  commissions  were  sometimes 
joint  and  sometimes  separate. 

In  1684,  the  proprietary  returning  to  England,  appointed 
his  son,  Benedict  Leonard  Calvert,  a minor,  (Cecil  being  dead) 
lieutenant-general,  and  nine  persons,  viz.  colonel  Talbot,  Tho- 
mas Taillor,  Vincent  Lowe,  the  surveyor-general,  Henry  Dar- 
nall,  'William  Digges,  William  Stevens,  William  Burgess, 
Nicholas  Sewall  and  John  Darnall,  esquires,  were  all  made 
commissioners  general,  and  Clement  Hill,  esq.  a deputy.  In 
1685,  William  Joseph,  esq.  was  president  ot  the  council,  and  of 
the  upper  house  when  assembled  afterwards. 

The  proprietary  had  considered  the  bonds  required  by  the 
late  acts  of  parliament,  on  the  departure  of  ships  after  the  du- 
ties had  been  paid,  an  unnecessary  grievance,  which  he  declined 
enforcing,  but  Mr.  Christopher  Ilousby  being  appointed  collect 
tor  in  his  place  by  the  commissioners  of  trade,  exacted  them, 
and  the  proprietary  solicited  his  recall;  this  solicitation  was 
not  acceeded  to,  and  he  was  directed  to  support  the  demand 
of  the  .collector,  agreeably  to  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Jones,  the 
attorney  general,  whom  it  was  thought  necessary  to  consult  on 
the  occasion.  Colonel  Talbot  had  been  employed  to  defend  the 
settlements  at  the  head  of  the  bay,  and  while  engaged  with  the 
collector  at  Patuxent,  in  procuring  funds  for  the  erection  of  a 
fort  upon  or  near  Christeen,  an  affray  took  place  between  them, 
in  which  the  latter  lost  his  life.  The  colonel  fled  into  Virginia, 
hut  being  taken,  tried  and  convicted  of  murder,  was  afterwards 
pardoned  by  king  James.  While  the  accession  of  the  duke  of 
York  to  the  throne  was  announced  in  the  province,  the  proprie- 
tary was  again  followed  by  allegations  of  persecuting  Protest- 
5 


34 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


ants,  and  other  less  important  charges.  Desirous  to  obtain  the 
province,  ■ king  threatened  him  with  a dissolution  of  the  char- 
ter r bstructing  the  customs,  and  he  was  compelled  to  indem- 
nify the  crown  lor  some  loss  of  revenue  from  them. 

Assemblies  were  held  in  1686  and  1688,  under  Benedict  L. 
Calvert,  and  deputy  governors,  Mr.  Joseph,  president,  where  se- 
vere iaws  were  passed  against  usury,  and  fixing  the  currency 
agreeably  to  the  coins,  at  six  shillings  the  dollar. 

James*  toleration,  allowing  Catholics  public  worship,  had  be- 
come as  obnoxious  with  some  here  as  it  was  generally  in  Eng- 
land. As  soon  as  his  flight  was  known,  the  proprietary’s  orders 
to  proclaim  William  and  Mary  having  miscarried,  the  people  of 
Maryland  began  to  resist  the  government  also,  and  forming  an 
association,  placed  the  before  mentioned  John  Coode  at  their 
head  and  obtained  the  fort  and  government  of  the  deputies  by 
capitulation. 

In  1689,  commissioners  assembled  in  convention,  of  which 
Ken  el  m Cheseldine,  esq.  was  chosen  speaker,  in  imitation  of 
and  pursuant  to  instructions  from  that  in  England.  They  met 
again  in  1690,  and  chose  George  Robothom,  esq.  their  speaker, 
but  they  passed  no  ordinances  except  to  continue  the  existing 
laws,  and  prohibit  the  export  of  corn.  Lord  Baltimore  was  • 
ou  tlawed  in  Ireland  in  1690,  where  he  never  had  been,  and  there- 
fore got  his  outlawry  reversed  by  king  William  immediately, 
as  is  stated  in  the  London  Magazine  of  June  1768;  where  it  is 
strangely  said,  that  a Lord  Baltimore  of  the  name  of  John,  who 
they  call  the  father  of  Charles,  had  followed  king  James  and 
sat  in  parliament.  Unfortunately  too,  some  of  the  servants  of 
Mr.  Sewall,  another  member  of  the  council,  killed  Mr.  Payne, 
Mr.  Rousby’s  successor  as  collector  of  the  customs,  for  which 
they  were  brought  to  trial,  condemned  and  executed. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  Main,  who  succeeded  to  that 
office  afterwards,  encountered  any  difficulty  or  opposition,  but 
that  both  the  provincial  and  royal  customs  were  collected  by 
him.  'Phis  however,  did  not  prevent  the  Protestant  interest ., 
for  which  James  was  expelled  from  England,  being  fcransfered 
to  the  colony  here  so  great  a majority  now  profo«sed  that  faith, 
and  this  interest  was  judged  more  secure  under  the  immediate 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


$5 


government  of  the  new  kin  and  queen,  so  that  the  proprietary 
was  wholly  deprived  of  political  power  or  the  administration  of 
public  affairs  here.  For  the  same,  and  other  causes,  especially 
the  religious  scru  les  of  the  inhabitants  to  contribute  towards 
the  common  defence,  though  urged  so  to  do  by  the  proprietary 
as  Mr.  Proud  says,  Mr.  Penn  was  also  deprived  of  his  govern- 
ment during  the  year  1693,  as  New-England  and  Virginia  were 
by  Charles  I.  and  Jersey  by  queen  Anne;  so  that  all  the  proprie- 
tary governments  on  this  continent ; were  at  one  time  or  another 
entirely  extinct.  Ti  e Carolinas  and  Georgia  being  taken  by 
George  II.  none  but  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  remained 
at  last. 

William  and  Mary  confirmed  to  Lord  Baltimore  the 
whole  of  the  port  or  tonnage  duty  lately  converted  to  money  at 
fourteen  pence,  after  a formal  decision  of  council,  contrary  to 
the  view's  of  the  assembly,  who  said  they  held  Lord  Baltimore 
accountable  for  the  other  half  received.  The  new  government 
accordingly  forbid  the  obstructions  which  had  been  raised  against 
colonel  Henry  Da  mail,  who  had  been  some  time  a judge  and 
register  of  the  land-office  and  agent  and  receiver  of  rents  for 
Lord  Baltimore,  and  whfi  had  been  actually  imprisoned  during 
the  late  troubles  ; the  proprietary  having  doubled  the  rate>  of 
rent,  and  adopted  other  means  of  defence  or  reprisal  ; such  as, 
authority  to  increase  the  caution  money  and  fees  of  the  land 
office  in  proportion  to  those  exacted  by  2he  new  chancellor  and 
secretary,  to  which  he  did  not  consider  them  entitled,  and  which 
continued  to  be  a subject  of  long  and  obstinate  dispute,  so  that 
the  land  office  was  actually  closed  part  of  the  time  that  the 
provincial  government  was  held  by  the  crown. 

In  1691,  colonel  Lionel  Copley  was  appointed  captain-gene- 
ral, and  Henry  Jowles,  Nehemiah  Blakiston,  Nicholas  Green- 
burry,  George  Robothom,  Claries  Hutchins,  David  Brown, 
Thomas  Tench,  John  Addison,  John  Courts,  Thomas  Brooke 
and  James  Frisby,  esquires,  were  his  councillors*  Sir  Thomas 
I awi  i ce,  Bart,  appointed  councillor  and  secretary  soon  after 
Mr  Copley’s  appointment,  was,  in  1694,  chief  justice  and  rice- 
admiral. 


36 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


Messrs.  Coplej,  Blakiston,  Jowles,  Robothom,  Greenbury 
and  Addison,  and  Robert  King,  John  Brooke  and  Robert  Mason, 
esquires,  judges  of  the  provincial  couit,  were  commissioned  by 
the  crown,  and  afterwards  were  added,  sir  Thomas  Lawrence 
and  captain  Nicholson.  Edward  Wynne,  esquire,  was  appoint- 
ed attorney-general,  and  Mr.  Cneseldine,  commissary-general. 

Charles  Carrol!,  Esq.  succeeded  colonel  Darnall  as  chief 
agent  of  Lord  Baltimore ; though  it  appears  that  Edward  Somer-  . 
sett,  esquire,  who  had  married  Maria  the  daughter  of  Lord 
Baltimore,  and  died  in  the  colony  some  years  after,  had  a share 
in  the  agency  as  trustee  of  his  father-in-law,  part  of  the  time 
that  the  government  was  held  by  the  crown. 

After  passing  an  act  of  recognition,  wherein  they  declared 
M illiam  and  Mary  to  be  sovereigns  of  England  and  all  its  do- 
minions, and  repealing  all  the  former  laws,  except  those  which 
related  to  individual  rights,  governor  Copley  and  the  assembly 
in  1692  prayed,  in  the  Rtile  of  British  statutes,  “that  an  act 
might  be  passed  for  establishing  the  Protestant  religion.”  In 
pursuance  of  which,  and  with  the  assistance  of  doctor  Thomas 
Bray,  expressly  commissioned  for  that  purpose  by  the  bishop  of 
London,  the  colony  was  immediately  divided  into  parishes,  pro- 
vided with  vestry  men  and  forty  pounds  of  tobacco  per  poll,  in 
lieu  of  tythes,  levied  for  the  support  of  the  clergymen ; of  whom 
however,  it  is  said,  there  w ere  but  sixteen  in  the  first  instance. 
Naturalization  law's  were  superceded  by  a general  act,  declaring 
aliens  who  should  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  fully  naturalized. 

A duty  was  laid  on  spirits  imported  for  the  support  of  govern- 
ment, besides  one  shilling,  or  half  the  duty  on  tobacco  ex- 
ported. The  colonists  paid  the  new  governor  twenty-five 
pounds  of  tobacco  per  poll,  annually,  and  a duty  of  three  pence 
per  hogshead  on  that  article,  and  also  appointed  and  supported 
an  agent  or  attorney  in  England,  independent  of  the  proprie- 
tary. 

In  1692,  captain  Francis  Nicholson  w*as  appointed  a coun- 
cillor and  held  a commission  of  lieutenant-governor  of  Mary- 
land and  Virginia*  but  sir  Edmund  Andross,  who  had  been  gov- 
ernor of  all  the  eastern  colonies  including  New-York  and  the 
Jerseys,  under  James,  and  had  so  conducted  himself  as  to  be 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


37 


continued,  was  now  governor-general  of  Virginia,  had  also 
a commission  to  succeed  our  governor  and  deputy  in  case 
of  the  death  or  absence  of  both.  Governor  Copley  died  in  1 93, 
and  captain  Nicholson  being  in  England,  sir  Edmond  acted  as 
governor  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  until  Mr.  Nicholson’s  re- 
turn, in  1694.  In  1698  the  latter  succeeded  to  sir  Edmond,  as 
governor-general  of  Virginia  and,  after  going  to  England,  went 
to  that  colony.  George  Robothom,  esquire,  was  appointed 
judge  of  vice-admiralty  for  the  eastern-shore  in  1694,  and  Henry 
Jowl es,  esquire,  keeper  of  the  great  seal,  and  the  year  after, 
chancellor,  keeper  and  judge  of  the  court  of  vice-admiralty. 

In  the  mean  time,  that  is  in  1694,  under  governor  Nichol- 
son, the  ton'n  land  at  Proctor’s  on  the  Severn,  with  Oxford  on 
the  east  side  of  the  bay,  were  made  ports  of  entry  at  which  col- 
lectors or  agents  should  reside.  The  former  called  Anne  Arun- 
del town,  was  the  next  year  called  Annapolis  ; the  assembly 
holding  its  session  there,  making  it  the  seat  of  justice  of  the 
county  as  well  as  the  seat  of  the  colonial  government.  Thus 
were  the  feelings  of  the  Catholics  of  St.  Mary’s,  by  a removal 
from  amongst  them,  saved  from  some  of  that  mortification  the 
revolution  here  was  calculated  to  inflict,  and  of  that  odium  in 
others  in  which  their  triumph  might  induce  rivals  to  indulge. 

The  site  of  the  capitol  chosen  by  the  Protestant  government, 
was’ on  good  navigation,  central  and  elevated,  and  the  plan,  con- 
sisting of  two  area’s  on  which  the  state-house  and  church  stands, 
with  streets  diverging  from  each,  is  convenient  as  well  as  elegant. 

In  a general  system  of  education  throughout  the  colony, 
adopted  by  the  assembly  on  the  recommendation  of  governor 
Nicholson,  the  foundation  of  the  college  was  now  began  at  the 
seat  of  government,  by  the  appointment  of  trustees  ; and  sun- 
dry imposts  on  the  importation  of  negroes  and  spirits,  and  on 
skins,  furs,  beef  and  pork  exported,  except  by  inhabitants,  or 
English  traders , for  the  college  and  county  and  free  schools, 
and  for  erecting  court-houses,  bridewells,  &c.  A duty  was  laid 
on  officers,  on  spirits  imported,  ten  pence  on  negroes  and  two 
shillings  and  six  pence  on  white  servants,  and  ten  per  cent  on 
the  amount  of  foreign  goods  exported,  were  also  laid  for  the  gene- 
ral expenses  ; then  increased  by  the  appropriation  of  three  hun- 


3.8 


SKETCHED  OF  THE  EARLY 


drer’  an'1  thirty -two  pounds  six  shillings  and  eight  pence,  to- 
ward: defraying  the  expenses  of  British  forces  employed  on 
the  frontiers  of  New- York  against  the  French  in  Canada.  The 
coast,  especially  from  the  south,  being  harrassed  and  plundered 
by  daring  pirates,  punishments  were  provided  for  the  offenders 
who  might  be  taken  and  brought  into  the  colony.  It  was  thought 
necessary  it  seems,  to  have  a surveyor-general  of  royal  customs, 
to  which  office,  Edward  Randolph,  esquire,  was  appointed  ; and 
it  was  now  for  the  first  time,  that  the  governor  and  council,  dis- 
tinct from  the  upper-house  ai\d  out  of  the  assembly  lime,  set  as 
a court  of  appeals  and  writs  of  error ; and  appeals  from  thence  in 
cases  over  three  hundred  pounds,  were  carried  to  the  king  and 
council  in  England.  The  gentlemen  of  the  bar,  for  whose  regu- 
lation many  acts  had  been  passed  since  the  establishment  of  the 
province,  were  henceforth  subjected  to  examinations  before  ad- 
mittance, ancl  judges  and  lawyers  directed  to  wear  gowns  in 
court. 

In  1695,  Robert  Smith,  esquire,  the  chief  justice,  was  ap- 
pointed surveyor- general,  and  he  had  a deputy  in  each  county, 
so  that  the  office  of  register  of  the  land  office,  was  the  only  one 
held  under  the  proprietary ; and  much  difficulty  he  had,  from 
the  conflicting  interests  of  the  landlord  in  disposing  of  the 
lands;  of  which  more  than  one  half  perhaps  were  yet  vacant. 
Things  in  their  nature  inalienable,  the  soil  and  the  sovereign- 
ty, being  separated,  it  was  perhaps  impossible  for  persons  of 
excellent  intentions  to  avoid  disputes  in  the  position  the  officers 
were  now  placed.  Warrants  and  surveys  issued  from  the 
crown  officers,  on  the  terms  fixed  by  Lord  Baltimore,  and  his 
agents  granted  the  patents,  the  records  of  which  were  claimed 
by  the  secretary  of  the  colony,  not  of  his  appointment. 

Prince  George’s  county  was  laid  off  in  this  year  by  an  act 
of  assembly;  from  this  Frederick  county  was  taken  in  1748; 
Queen  Ann  was  erected  in  1706 ; from  which,  and  part  of  Dor- 
chester county,  Caroline  was  taken,  and  Harford  from  Balti- 
more in  1773,  Worcester  being  taken  from  Somerset  in  1742, 
all  r afferent  acts,  made  the  sixteen  counties  existing  at  the 
Commencement  of  the  revolutionary  war. 


HISTORY  OR  MARYLAND. 


In  1696,  the  parliament  of  England  passed  an  act  declaring 
its  laws  to  be  paramount  in  the  coloni'es  ; confined  ail  trade  to 
and  from  them,  to  British  ships  and  property;  and  all  sales  of 
land  therein,  to  natural  born  subjects  only,  and  declared  that 
all  future  proprietary  governors  should  be  approved  of  by  the 
crown  and.  take  the  oaths  before  they  acted  as  such ; and  three 
years  after,  prohibited  the  exportation  from  them,  of  wool  and 
woolen  manufactures,  and  prescribed  the  punishment  of  piracy 
untier  condition  of  forfeitures  of  charters.  In  the  same  year, 
governor  Nicholson,  who  had  expelled  the  turbulent  Mr.  Coode 
from  the  colony,  returned  to  England  and  was  succeeded  by 
Nathaniel  Blaktston,  esquire.  Acts  of  assembly  were  passed 
permitting  the  Quakers  to  affirm ; and  to  induce  clergymen  to 
remove  to  and  settle  in  the  colony,  as  expressly  stated,  prohib- 
iting magistrates  from  celebrating  marriages.  The  laws  to  en- 
courage the  importatation  of  negroes  were  revived,  but  others 
were  passed  restricting  by  heavy  duties,  the  importation  of  Irish 
Papists , and  that  of  flour  was  prohibited  altogether. 

The  quit  rents  were  farmed  or  leased  in  1699,  for  seven 
years,  to  Messrs.  Richard  Bennet,  and  James  Heath  ; a mea- 
sure which  was  forced  on  Lord  Baltimore,  in  all  probability,  by 
the  difficulties  opposed  to  his  agents  in  the  collection  by  the 
crown  officers. 

The  population  of  Maryland,  including  eleven  counties,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  century,  is  stated  by  Holmes  at 
twenty-five  thousand  ; w hich  it  is  supposed,  was  exclusive  of  the 
blacks,  and  perhaps  of  ail  other  servants  ; although  there  were 
still  Indian  settlements  at  Piscataway.  Of  the  number  of 
one  thousand,  three  hundred  and  fifty  men,  which  the  colonies 
from  Carolina  North,  were  to  send  against  the  Indians,  wffio 
w ere  excited  and  aided  by  the  French  from  Canada  and  Louisi- 
anna,  this  colony  was  to  furnish  one  hundred  and  sixty,  by  an 
act  of  assembly;  and  acts  affording  similar  aid  to  the  parent 
country,  in  m?n  or  money,  were  again  passed  in  1715,  1740, 
1746,  1754, 1756,  &c. 

Queen  Anne,  who  succeeded  king  William  in  1702,  adhered 
to  his  general  colonial  policy,  and  sent  out  colonel  John  Sey- 
mour to  be  governor  of  Maryland  in  1704;  during  which  interval 
it  appears  that  the  president  of  the  council  w'as  Thomas 


40 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


Tench,  esq.  The  state-house  erected  at  Annapolis  was  destroy- 
ed by  fire,  and  many  records  of  the  province  and  of  Anne  Arun- 
del county,  1704.  Mr.  Bacon  states  that  some  were  lost  by  the 
removal  from  St.  Mary’s,  and  no  doubt,  many  public  documents 
were  mislaid,  if  not  entirely  lost,  by  the  removals  from  Annapo- 
lis when  threatened  with  invasion,  during  the  last  and  the  pre- 
ceeding  war  with  England,  so  that  our  history  will  always  be 
defective,  it  is  to  be  apprehended. 

After  the  passage  of  an  act  of  recognition  of  the  queen,  the 
assembly  enacted  that  none  but  natives  or  residents  for  three 
years,  should  hold  oifices,  except  those  commissioned  directly 
by  the  crown,  and  in  an  act  entitled,  an  act  to  prevent  the 
growth  of  popery,”  Roman  Catholic  priests  were  prohibited  from 
the  public  administration  of  worship.  The  acts  or  William  and 
Mary  in  favour  of  dissenters,  were  enforced  by  law's  passed  here, 
and  the  affirmation  of  Quakers  admitted  in  all  cases  accord- 
ingly. Parliament  passed  an  act  to  establish  the  currency  of 
the  colonies  at  the  rates  before  adopted  here,  and  encourage  the 
importation  of  naval  stores  from  America.  Lord  Baltimore’s 
right  to  dispose  of  the  lands  and  receive  his  rents  was  not  con- 
tested but  the  assembly  again  insisted  that  the  queen  should 
have  the  half  of  the  two  shillings  tobacco  duty,  towards  defray- 
ing expenses,  which  they  repeated  was  no  longer  chargeable  on 
the  proprietary,  and  the  government  received  it  accordingly. 

Then  too,  an  act  was  passed  limiting  the  interest  of  money 
debts  at  the  then  legal  rate  in  England,  that  is,  six  per  cent,  per 
annum,  that  on  products  at  eight  per  cent ; and  to  prohibit  the 
importation  of  bread,  beer.  Hour,  grain,  horses,  or  tobacco,  from 
Pennsylvania;  but  the  necessities  of  the  colonists,  obliged  them 
to  prohibit  the  exportation  and  importation  of  such  articles  alter- 
nately ; and,  being  generally  planters  or  shippers,  they  actually 
prohibited  all  internal  trade,  by  buying  and  selling  under  the 
name  of  ingrossing,  which  was  probably  the  intention  of  former 
laws  on  the  subject.  Country  bottoms  or  vessels  were  still  ex- 
empted from  certain  new  tonnage  duties,  and  in  1706,  hemp  at 
six  pence  and  flax  at  nine  pence  per  pound,  v\ere  made  a legal 
tender  for  one  fourth  of  all  debts  in  money  or  tobacco,  the  lat- 
ter valued  at  one  penny  per  pound  only. 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


41 


Sir  W.  Davenant  states  the  average  quantity  of  tobacco  im- 
ported into  England  for  1707,  1708  and  1709,  at  twenty-eight 
millions,  eight  hundred  and  fifty-eight  thousand,  six  hundred 
and  sixty-six  pounds.  At  the  same  period,  several  acts  of  assem- 
bly were  passed  dividing  the  colony  into  commercial  or  mari- 
time districts  ; that  is,  St.  Mary’s,  St.  George’s  and  Annapolis 
were  to  be  the  chief  places  of  three  districts  on  the  western- 
shore,  and  Chester,  Oxford  and  Greem  Hill  of  as  many  on  the 
eastern-shore,  where  naval  officers  should  reside  ; and  all  vessels 
loading  or  unloading  within  either  of  them  were  to  be  under  the 
inspection  of  the  officer  of  such  district ; but  it  is  stated  that 
these  acts  were  rejected  by  the  crown.  The  city  of  St.  Mary’s 
lost  its  burgesses,  when  Annapolis  obtained  them  by  charter 
of  queen  Anne,  in  1708. 

At  tliis  time  also  the  fees  of  the  land  office  were  limited  by  an 
act  of  assembly  and  surveyors  required  to  take  the  oaths ; both 
going  to  defeat  the  exercise  of  what  little  public  authority  might 
remain  to  the  proprietary,  or  any  preference  he  might  have  for 
people  of  his  religious  faith,  but  conformable  no  doubt  to  the 
laws  of  the  parent  country  and  innispensible  of  course.  A law 
was  passed  for  the  relief  of  poor  debtors,  but  suspended  two 
years  after,  another  was  passed  in  1724,  but  repealed  the  year 
after  and  never  revived  until  1774,  but  an  act  was  passed  and 
continued,  to  secure  the  payment  of  country  debts  from  insol- 
vent estates  in  preference  to  those  of  British  or  foreign  origin; 
and  one  Richard  Clarke,  of  Anne  Arundel,  was  attainted  and 
outlawed  for  treason  and  forgery. 

In  1709,  governor  Seymour  died  and  Edward  Lloyd,  esquire, 
was  president  of  the  council,  and  as  such,  the  governor  of  the 
province. 

In  1710,  the  British  government  established  a general 
post-office  in  the  colonies ; the  carriage  of  private  letters  being 
until  then  here,  as  it  had  been  in  England  part  of  the  preceeding 
century,  altogether  an  object  of  individual  enterprise;  the  trans- 
mission of  the  acts  of  the  assembly  were  by  the  sheriffs  fiom 
county  to  county,  as  were  all  other  public  dispatches.  As  before 
mentioned,  the  assembly  granted  three  thousand  acres  of  land 

to  the  Nanticoke  Indians  in  Somerset  county. 

6 


42 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


The  chancellor  and  secretary,  officers  of  the  crown,  continu- 
ing to  exact  fees  on  land  a flairs,  Lord  Baltimore  renewed  his 
instructions  to  Mr.  Carroll  in  1712,  the  latter  being  then  in  Lon- 
don, to  require  tiie  same,  as  his  agent,  and  as  if  none  other  were 
demanded,  confirming  all  the  proceedings  of  Mr.  Darnall  and 
that  gentleman. 

In  1714,  John  Hart,  esquire,  was  appointed  governor  under 
the  queen,  and  continued  by  her  successor,  and  several  acts 
passed  calculated  to  relieve  the  inhabitants  from  the  effects  of 
the  war  just  then  terminated,  though  Maryland  and  the  other 
middle  colonies  not  then  having  European  neighbors  westward, 
suffered  less  than  those  on  the  north  or  south  frontier.  At  this 
time  the  provincial  court  hold  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  all  cases 
real  or  mixt,  in  those  of  debts  exceeding  twenty  pounds  ster- 
ling, and  in  all  criminal  cases  which  were  capital,  except  ne- 
groes, and  so  continued  until  1^73, 

In  1713  an  act  of  assembly  was  passed  recognizing  king 
George  in  the  usual  form,  but  be  restored  the  province  to  the 
infant  son  of  Benedict  Leonard,  who  survived  his  father,  the 
late  lord  Baltimore,  only  from  the  21st  February  to  the  1 6th  of 
April,  and  had  merely  time  to  instruct  the  agent,  Mr.  Carroll, 
of  his  accession.  A commission  was  sent  out  to  Mr.  Hart,  by 
Charles,  the  new  lord  Baltimore,  joined  with  lord  Guilford  his 
guardian;  who  exhibited  a proof  of  his  attention  to  the  interest 
of  the  province,  as  well  as  of  his  ward,  by  a memorial  present- 
ed to  parliament  against  colonial  regulations  then  proposed  and 
in  which  was  stated  the  amount  of  the  proprietary’s  first  expen- 
ditures, herein  noticed  already.  Charles  whose  administration 
of  the  province  as  proprietary  and  as  governor,  was  near  40 
years,  and  was  attended  with  so  many  difficulties  but  always 
honourable  to  himself,  having  married  three  times  and  living  to 
the  age  of  85  years,  has  this  best  eulogium  in  the  preamb!e  of 
the  act  of  1074  renewing  the  port  duty,  which  was  past 
in  consideration  of  the  great  favour  of  his  lordship  Cecilius, 
unto  them,  64  in  continuing  his  only  son  and  heir  apparent  his  go- 
vernor,” and  gratefully  acknowledged  the  ben  jits  they  had  re- 
ceived by  his  care  and  solicitude.  Charles  had  induced  his  son, 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


4$ 


Benedict  Leonard  to  renounce  the  Catholic  religion,  which  ho  'id 
a little  before  hi'- father’s  decease  and  was  elected  member  of 
parliament  for  Harwich  directly  after,  so  that  the  grandson 
and  future  heir,  was  educated  in  the  established  church,  and 
thus  was  the  legal  impediment  removed  and  the  principal,  if 
not  the  sole  cause  of  the  assumption  of  the  government  by  the 
crown  twenty  seven  years  before. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  Benedict  Leonard,  now  just  de^ 
ceased,  was  one  of  the  infant  governors  of  Maryland  in  the  ab- 
sence of  his  father.  His  lady  was  Charlotte,  daughter  of  Ed- 
ward Henry  Lee,  earl  of  Litchfield,  and  grand  daughter  of 
Charles  the  second,  by  the  dutchess  of  Cleveland. 

It  was  at  this  period,  that  is,  after  the  accession  of  George 
the  first  and  before  the  restoration  of  the  province  to  Charles, 
the  fifth  Lord  Baltimore,  that  the  assembly  under  governor  Hart 
passed  those  important  laws  still  in  force,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
viz.  to  limit  the  damage  on  bills  of  exchange  returned  protested, 
at  fifteen  per  cent.  The  power  to  bring  actions  on  common  debts 
or  accounts  at  three  years  and  on  bonds,  or  other  specialties  at 
twelve  years,  with  savings  to  infants,  absentees,  &c.  commonly 
called  the  acts  of  limitation  ; the  acts  directing  the  manner  of 
sueing  out  attachments,  and  permitting  the  testimony  of  negroes 
in  cases  of  other  people  of  colour:  they  also  extended  the  juris- 
diction of  the  county  courts  in  actions  for  debt  where  the  balance 
did  not  exceed  twenty  pounds  sterling,  from  which  there  should 
be  no  appeal  under  six  pounds  sterling,  increasing  the  jurisdic- 
tion »f  single  justices  from  sixteen  shillings  and  eight  pence  to 
thirty  three  shillings  and  four  pence. 

There  was  no  immediate  change  in  the  council  except  the 
appointment  of  Thomas  Smith,  Esq.  The  judges  of  the  pro- 
vincial court  were  William  Holland,  Esq.  chief  justice,  Thom- 
as Smyth,  Samuel  Young,  Thomas  Addison,  Richard  Tilghman, 
James  Harris  and  Joseph  Stoddert,  esquires,  associates.  Messrs. 
Thos.  Beake  and  Charles  Lowe  were  secretaries,  but  the  duties 
were  performed  by  Philemon  Lloyd,esq.  deputy.  Thomas  Bord- 
ley,  Esq.  was  attorney  general  and  Mr.  Carroll  continued  chief 
agent.  No  officers  were  commissioned  or  appointed  by  the  go- 
vernment of  England  afterwards,  except  those  to  collect  the 


44 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


English  duties  or  customs;  and  all  fines  and  forfeitures,  which 
had  gone  latterly  to  the  crown,  were  restored  to  the  proprietary 
for  the  future.  The  assemblies  again  divided  into  upper  ami  low- 
er houses,  as  they  had  been  before  established,  but  to  vote  for  de- 
legates or  representatives,  they  were  now  expressly  called 
according  to  the  charter,  it  was  made  requisite  to  possess  a free- 
hold of  fifty  acres  of  land,  or  an  estate  of  forty  pounds  sterling 
at  least ; for  though  a quit  rent  was  paid,  the  tenure  was  always 
considered  fee  simple  or  freehold,  as  before  observed. 

Voters  were  subjected  to  fines  if  they  neglected  to 
attend  the  polls,  which  were  to  be  held  by  the  sheriffs 
before  some  of  the  justices,  as  often  as  the  governor  should  issue 
writs  for  the  purpose,  and  a daily  allowance  was  provided  for  the 
assemblymen,  of  whom  there  were  to  be  four  for  each  county  and 
two  for  a city  or  borough,  and  not  to  be  ordinary  keepers  or  such 
others  as  were  excluded  from  the  British  parliament.  The  she- 
riffs were  excluded,  being  specially  fudges  of  the  elections,  but 
the  returns  were  to  be  made  under  the  hands  and  seals  of  all  the 
electors , as  well  as  of  the  sheriffs. 

A general  revision  of  the  laws  took  place.  Those  relating 
to  religion  were  confirmed,  with  an  oath  of  abjuration,  in  imita- 
tion ot  that  adopted  in  England  against  the  pretender.  Widows 
or  stepfathers  who  were  Roman  catholics  were  not  allowed  to 
educate  the  children  of  protestant  fathers  ; but  the  courts  were 
bound  to  enquire  by  special  juries,  whether  orphans  were  pro- 
vided agreeably  to  their  estates,  and,  such  as  were  apprentices, 
taught  their  trades  and  not  put  to  common  labour.  A union  of 
offices  in  some  instances,  and  a reduction  of  them  in  others,  un- 
der the  proprietary,  lessened  the  burthens  and  facilitated  the 
transaction  of  business,  and  the  differences  between  his  agents 
and  the  governor,  relative  to  the  revenue  and  land  office,  subsid- 
ed on  the  resignation  of  the  latter  four  years  after.  Lord  Balti- 
more received  the  tonnage  & half  of  the  duty  on  tobacco  export- 
ed, as  formerly;  duties  were  added  on  spirits,  negroes  & servants 
imported,  and  an  assessment  for  public  expenses  besides,  but  the 
assembly  itself  ventured  to  leave  the  small  provincial  charges 
to  be  levied  by  the  governor  and  council  during  the  intervals  of 
its  sessions,  w'hich  wrere  sometimes  over  the  year. 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


4o 


The  council  still  forming  the  upper  house  and  court  of  ap- 
peals, was  generally  composed  of  the  high  officers  in  the  pro- 
vince, and  though  it  rendered  that  body  more -subservient  to  his 
views,  than  hereditary,  or  elected  and  independent  senators 
would  have  been,  it  wks  the  interest  of  the  proprietary  to  use  his 
influence  to  shield  the  colonists  from  the  exactions  of  the  British 
government,  and  against  the  pretensions  of  the  proprietary  him- 
self, appeals  were  made  to  the  crown. The  proprietary  go- 

vernments, except  indeed  where  they  were  vested  in  a number 
of  individuals  or  commercial  companies,  were  therefore,  more 
popular  than  the  royal,  although  the  latter  received  some  suc- 
cours from  the  crown  ah  an  early  period,  which  the  former  did 
not ; as  in  Bacon’s  rebellion  in  Virginia,  and  in  defending  New 
England  against  their  French  and  Dutch  neighbours  ; and  the 
form  now  restored  in  Maryland  was  preserved  until  independ- 
ence was  declared  ; which,  including  the  periods  of  revolutions 
noticed  was  120  years,  or  nearly  from  the  foundation  of  the  set- 
tlement to  that  period. 

Although  premiums  were  still  given  for  killing  bears  and 
wolves,  wild  horses  and  cattle  were  so  numerous  that  it  became 
a business  to  pursue  them,  which  proves  that  the  settlements 
were  remote  and  Rangers  were  licensed  by  law,  that  being 
the  name  of  frontier  guards,  and  others  were  passed  to  preserve 
the  Deer,  with  some  exceptions  in  favour  6f  Indians,  of  whom 
there  were  settlements  on  the  Monococy  still. 

A more  full  'and  energetic  militia  system  was  adopted  with 
their  rates  of  pay  while  in  active  service.  Press  masters,  ap- 
pointed by  court,  if  directed  by  the  governor  or  commandant, 
w ere  authorized  to  take  stores  in  each  county  for  the  use  of  the 
military  on  service. 

The  councillors  were  generally  colonels  of  militia,  and  we 
find  soon  after,  that  two  of  them,  Messrs.  Matthew  Tilghman 
Ward  and  Levin  Gale  were  appointed  major  generals. 

In  1718  Roman  Catholics  were  expressly  prohibited  from 
voting  unless  they  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  abjuration, 
but  the  acts  of  assembly  to  prevent  the  growth  of  popery,  pass- 
ed during  the  late  reigns,  were  repealed,  refering  to  the  existing 
acts  of  parliament,  as  paramount  and  sufficient  for  the  purposes 


sketches  of  the  earlv 


A& 

intended.  Mr.  Carroll  and  others,  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith, 
continuing  to  hold  their  offices  notwithstanding  the  Ia*e  change, 
the  proprietary’s  agents  in  land  affairs  were  expressly  exempt- 
ed from  any  disqualification  on  account  ot  religion.  Anxious 
to  direct  the  colonists  from  manufactures,  the  government  of 
England  granted  bounties  on  the  importation  of  iron,  and  the 
legislature  passed  an  act  in  1719  to  lay  off'  a hundred  acres  of 
land  by  appraisement  to  those  who  would  set  up  furnaces  and 
forges,  similar  to  the  grants  which  had  been  made  tor  mills. 
Much  ore  being  found,  several  Iron  works  were  erected  on  the 
western  shore,  and  great  quantities  of  wood  land  taken  up  by  the 
owners. 

In  1720  Charles  Calvert,  esquire,  a relation  of  the  proprie- 
tary, superceeded  Mr.  Hart  as  governor,  and  all  the  difficulties 
of  the  land  office  ceased,  but  it  is  probable  that  Mr.  Calvert, 
like  succeeding  governors,  were  approved  by  the^  crown  after  be- 
ing nominated  by  the  proprietary,  and  which  though  it  produced 
no  contentions  that  we  learn  and  however  moderately  exercis- 
ed, was  no  less  a violation  of  his  charter. 

In  1721  executions  on  all  judgments  whatever,  were  sus- 
pended from  May  to  November,  and  afterwards  until  February, 
as  those  of  the  county  courts  had  been  for  many  years  before,  in 
order  that  the  labours  of  the  field  might  not  be  interrupted:  Soon 
after,  the  work  nen  at  furnaces,  forges  and  mills  were  exempted 
from  work  on  the  highways,  which  at  that  time  were  repaired,  by 
the  labour  of  all  male  taxables,  and  the  taxables  were  declared 
by  the  acts  of  1715  and  1725,  to  include  all  males,  and  all  co- 
loured women,  aged  sixteen  and  upwards,  but  clergymen,  pau- 
pers and  incapacitated  negroes  were  excepted. 

In  1723  courts  of  assize,  composed  of  two  provincial  court 
justices  for  each  shore,  were  organized  and  continued  to  exercise 
some  powers  superior  to  the  county  courts  in  all  the  counties 
until  about  twenty  years  after. 

The  funds  provided  for  schools  being  now  sufficient,  visitors 
were  appointed  for  every  county;  And  such  children  as  they  di- 
rected to  be  taught  gratis  were  to  be  received  in  these  schools, 
under  penalty  of  dismissal  of  teachers,  who  could  be  protestants 
only,  but  no  persons  children  were  exempt  on  account  of  reli- 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND, 


47 


gion  ; not  but  there  had  been  some  progress  in  these  establish- 
ments before,  especially  at  Oxford,  which  was  a capital  for  the 
eastern  shore  sometime.  Peltry  ano  copper  ore  were  added  by 
parliament  to  the  articles  which  must  go  direct  to  England,  and 
seven  years  after  naval  stores,  staves  and  boards  were  added. 

In  1727  Benedict  Leonard  Calvert,  esquire,  brother  of  the 
proprietary,  F.  R.  S.  and  member  of  parliament  for  Harwich,  was 
appointea  governor  and  came  out  to  Maryland,  but  taking  ill 
embarked  for  England  in  1732  and  died  on  the  passage,  having 
appointed  Samuel  Ogle,  esquire,  governor  in  his  place  the  year 
before. 

In  1728  Edward  Henry,  another  brother  of  the  proprietary, 
was  appointed  commissary  general  and  president  of  council.  Per- 
sons importing  convicts  were  compelled  to  enter  them  as  such, 
and  declare  the  crimes  of  which  they  had  been  convicted,  as  well 
for  the  security  of  the  inhabitants  as  to  enforce  the  duty  impos- 
ed on  such  importations. 

In  1729  a premium  of  fifteen  per  cent,  was  allowed  on  du- 
ties paid  in  specie  imported,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Baltimore 
county  petitioned  for  and  obtained  the  laying  out  of  the  town  of 
the  same  name  on  sixty  acres  of  Mr  Carroll’s  land,  which  he 
was  paid  for  at  40  shillings  per  acre,  and  it  was  first  represented 
in  1774,  but  not  incorporated  until  twenty  years  after.  Chester 
in  Kent,  was  laid  out  by  act  of  1706,  but  Easton  not  until  after 
independence,  as  were  Elkton,  Hagerstown  and  Cumberland* 
Where  towns  were  on  the  proprietary’s  lands,  he  received  one 
cent  per  lot  or  acre  per  annum  quit  rent. 

In  M‘Phersons  annals  it  is  stated,  that  in  1731,  the  tobacco 
imported  into  Great  Britain  from  Virginia  and  Maryland,  am- 
ounted to  sixty  thousand  hogsheads,  lumber  to  the  value  of  fifteen 
thousand  pounds,  and  skins  and  furs  about  six  thousand  pounds 
sterling;  employing  twenty  four  thousand  tons  of  shipping;  at 
this  time  it  is  also  stated  that  the  two  provinces  raised  about  the 
same  quantity  of  tobacco  each.  This  staple  was  however  so  re- 
duced in  price  the  ensuing  year  in  Maryland,  that  a number  of 
fields  of  plants  were  destroyed  by  the  malcontents ; and  the 
militia  were  called  out  to  suppress  them  and  punishments  pro- 
vided by  law  tor  the  offenders. 

In  1732  Lord  Baltimore  and  John,  Thomas,  and  Richard 


48 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


Penn,  esquires,  the  surviving  sons  of  William  Penn,  entered  into 
an  agreement  to  settle  their  limits  by  arbitration,  taking  for  the 
basis  the  bounds  of  the  territory  conquered  from  the  Dutch,  as 
ceded  to  Mr.  Penn,  and  from  those  bounds  north,  until  within 
fifteen  miles  of  the  latitude  of  Philadelphia,  and  from  that  par- 
rallel  due  west,  across  the  Snsquehanna  river,  &c.  Seven arbi* 
trators  were  appointed  by  each  party  three  of  whom  to  have  pow- 
er to  act ; on  his  part  Lord  Baltimore  appointed  Samuel  Ogle, 
esquire  the  governor,  and  Messrs.  Charles  Calvert,  Philemon 
Lloyd,  Michael  Howard,  Richard  Bennet,  Benjamin  Tasker, 
and  Matthew  Tilghman  Ward  commissioners*  and  came  out 
himself ; Mr.  Thomas  Penn  also  coming  to  Pennsylvania.  A 
meeting  took  place  at  Newcastle,  butj  differences  occurring  in 
relation  to  the  situation  of  the  cape,  or  point,  at  which  the  Dutch 
territory  on  Delaware  began,  and  the  manner  of  describing  the 
periphery  at  New  Castle,  the  arbitrators  seperated,  and  the 
parties  again  returned  to  England.  So  far  as  concerned  the 
division  line  of  the  peninsula,  it  had  been  determined  by  the 
lords  of  trade  as  early  as  1685  and  could  but  be  satisfactory  to 
Lord  Baltimore,  as  he  was  compelled  to  yield  the  Delaw  are 
shore ; for  a ridge  where  the  waters  run  into  each  bay  in  oppo- 
site directions,  carrying  with  them  the  interests  of  the  respec- 
tive inhabitants,  and  which  was  not  likely  to  become  a highway 
for  nations,  would  most  probably  secure  future  peace;  but  the 
cape  called  Henlopen,  being  twenty  miles  south  of  Delaware 
bay,  would,  if  fixed  as  a beginning,  deprive  our  proprietary  of 
several  thousand  square  miles  of  land  well  timbered,  which  he. 
could  not,willingly  assent  to  loose.  Both  parties  intended  ori- 
ginally no  doubt,  the  entrance  ot  the  bay  called  cape  Cornelius , 
then  James , for  a beginning,  but  that  was  called  Inlopen 
and  the  outer  cape  Henlopen , in  the  old  Dutch  charts;  the  for- 
mer had  lost  its  original  appellation  before  this  agreement  was 
entered  into,  but  the  latter  remained  and  was  referred  to  in  that 
instrument,  by  mistake,  as  it  is  supposed.  To  remedy  this,  and 
get  himself  justice,  Lord  Baltimore  endeavoured  to  procure  a 
new  grant  from  the  crown,  but  was  refused.  Mr.  Penn’s  heirs 
filed  a bill  in  chancery,  and  in  1750,  obtained  a decree  of  lord 
Hardwicke  confirming  the  agreement  and  bounds  proposed  on 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


49 


their  part  according  to  the  name  of  the  outer  cape  in  the  old 
charts. 

The  improvements  in  English  manufactures,  the  credit  given 
there  and  the  necessity  of  using  it  here,  the  low  price  of  the 
staple  and  the  scarcity  ©f  specie  notwithstanding  the  bounty 
lately  offered  on  its  importation,  much  more  going  to  the  other 
colonies,  where  there  was  already  a depreciated  paper  calculat- 
ed to  invite  speculation  at  the  expense  of  their  neighbours,  the 
example  was  now  followed  by  Maryland.  A bill  for  thirty  six 
thousand  pounds  had  been  passed  two  years  before,  but  not  sanc- 
tioned by  the  proprietary.  Witnessing  himself  the  distresses 
of  the  province  afterwards,  ninety  thousand  pounds  were  cre- 
ated in  1733,  redeemable  in  31  years  by  a duty  of  one  shilling 
& three  pence  per  hhd.  on  tobacco  payable  in  bills  of  exchange,  to 
be  remitted  and  invested  in  British  bank  stock  by  three  commis- 
sioners, under  the  direction  of  the  proprietary  who  was  to  ap- 
point them.  A portion  of  those  bills  of  credit  was  to  be  paid 
to  planters  at  thirty  shillings  per  taxable  person,  for  the  burning 
of  three  hundred  pounds  of  trash  tobacco;  and  they  were  receiv- 
able in  taxes  in  lieu  of  that  article,  at  the  same  rate  of  ten  shil- 
lings per  hundred  pounds,  & a legal  tender  of  all  future  contracts 
for  money,  the  dues  of  the  church  and  proprietary  only  except- 
ed.— -A  thousand  pounds  currency  were  granted  each  county  for 
public  buildings,  and  three  thousand  pounds  appropriated  for  a 
government  house  ; the  remainder  was  to  be  loaned  for  limited 
times,  on  mortgage  or  personal  security,  at  four  per  cent,  inter- 
est, being  two  per  cent,  less  than  the  rate  established.  It  was 
in  fact,  a banking  system,  which,  properly  managed,  would  not 
only  relieve  individuals  and  accelerate  improvements,  but,  as 
far  as  the  demands  of  circulation  required,  would  supercede  the 
ordinary  taxes.  Loans  were  repeated  and  new  emissions  au- 
thorised, thirty  four  thousand  and  fifteen  pounds  six  shil- 
lings during  the  Canada  war  for  instance,  until  they  became 
a substitute  for  all  other  money  and  fell,  but  the  result  will  be 
seen  hereafter,  when  pay  day  came  round.  It  is  stated  in  Mr. 
Douglass’s  summary,  that  in  1748,  one  hundred  pounds  sterling 
sold  for  two  hundred  pounds  of  our  currency  of  six  shillings  to 
the  dollar  at  which  rate  it  is  also  stated  in  the  gentleman’s  ma- 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


50 

gazine  for  1755,  but  the  exchange  was  five  times  as  high  in  se- 
veral colonies  both  eastward  and  southward,  where  in  conse- 
quence thereof,  the  British  government  interfered  to  prevent 
excessive  issues  by  them. 

Before  his  departure  from  England  Lord  Baltimore  had  been 
elected  a member  of  the  royal  society  and  appointed  gentleman 
of  the  bed  chamber  to  prince  Frederick,  grandfather  to  the  pre- 
sent king  5 on  his  return  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  lords  of 
the  admiralty  and  elected  member  of  parliament  for  Surry  and 
of  the  society  for  propagating  the  gospel. 

At  this  period  the  proprietary  required  forty  shillings  ster- 
ling per  hundred  acres  as  caution  or  consideration,  besides  the 
yearly  rent  of  land,  and  this  was  raised  to  above  four  shillings 
per  annum  and  sometimes  ten  shillings,  according  to  quality  and 
situation,  at  the  discretion  in  some  measure  of  his  agents,  but, 
additions  by  rc-surveys,  to  be  at  original  prices  or  valuation  of 
the  surveyors  in  cases  of  escheat,  and  alienations  by  devise 
were  expressly  exempted  from  the  fine.  Mr.  Ogle  became  go- 
vernor again  on  the  departure  of  the  proprietary  in  1734. 

It  is  stated  in  the  Universal  History  that  Maryland  employed 
one  hundred  and  thirty  sail  of  ships  in  1736,  and  that  from  this 
province  and  Virginia,  there  was  exported  the  value  of  two 
hundred  and  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling,  which  no  doubt  had 
been  greater  if  the  trade  was  not  still  restricted  to  British  dom- 
inions and  the  south  of  Europe.  The  number  of  vessels  of  this 
province  is  sta.ted  at  two  hundred  in  the  Gent.  Magazine,  and  at 
the  same  period  and  afterwards  laws  were  passed  to  refund  seve- 
ral persons  the  duties  which  had  been  paid  on  tobacco  lost  at  sea. 

In  1737  the  exportation  of  grain,  bread  and  flour  was  prohi- 
bited for  a year,  and  in  1740,  the  hard  w inter,  a considerable 
sum  was  appropriated  for  the  enlistment  of  troops  for  the  king’s 
service  against  the  Spanish  West  Indies,  and  in  1746  this  pro- 
vince raised  three  hundred  men  to  join  the  other  forces  against 
the  French  and  Indians  from  Canada.  In  the  same  year  1737, 
James  Harris  esquire,  was  appointed  surveyor  general  of  the  eas- 
tern shore,  an:l  there  were  seperate  surveyor  geuerals  for  each 
sliore  afterwards. 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


51 


Tiie  winter  of  1740  is  said  to  have  been  excessively  cold,  and 
not  surpassed  since,  except  by  that  of  1779  and  1783,  in  botn 
which  Chesapeake  bay  was  closed  by  ice  to  the  mouth  of  Patow- 
maek. 

The  ice  which  began  to  make  on  the  first  of  January  1784 
did  not  open  at  Patuxent  until  the  ninth  of  March,  at  Patapsco 
until  the  sixteenth  nor  at  Baltimore  until  the  twenty-fifth, 
which  was  sixteen  days  later  than  1780.  In  the  Philosophical 
Transactions  for  1759  it  is  stated  that  the  mercury  in  Fahren- 
heit’s Thermometer  in  the  year  1753  ranged  in  Maryland  from 
ten  degrees  the  lowest  to  ninety  degrees  the  greatest  heat,  the 
mean  being  sixty  degrees,  but  from  observations  made  near  BaL 
timore  by  Lewis  Brantz,  esquire,  for  several  years  just  past,  the 
range  is  from  ten  below  Zero  to  ninety  eight  and  the  mean  tem- 
perature about  fifty  two,  which  is  the  temperature  of  the  spring 
w ater  in  this  city.  Thus  it  appears  that  the  popular  opinion 
relating  to  the  improved  temperature  is  not  founded  in  fact,  and 
so  doctor  Rush  expressly  stated  in  his  latter  publications.  But 
all  agree  that  with  us,  the  north  west  winds  are  most  prevalent 
and  that  they  are  accompanied  by  clear  wholesome  weather. 
The  fall  of  w ater  on  an  average  of  the  years  1817  to  1820  inclu- 
sive, by  the  notes  of  Mr.  Brantz,  w as  thirty  eight  inches.  We 
are  visited  occasionally  by  severe  thunder  and  lightning;  earth- 
quakes or  hurricanes  are  scarcely  felt  or  known  in  Maryland, 
but  the  climate  is  so  variable  that  vegetation  commences  some- 
times early  in  March,  at  others  not  until  the  beginning  of  May: 
the  small  grain  is  got  in  generally  early  in  July,  and  the  fall  of 
the  leaf  is  from  the  first  of  October  to  the  middle  of  November, 

Thomas  Bladen,  esquire,  having  gone  to  England,  married 
miss  Jansen,  an  elder  sister  of  lady  Baltimore  and  returned  go- 
vernor in  1742.  In  1/44  by  treaty  with  Indians  at  Lancaster, 
at  which  Maryland  was  represented  by  Edmund  Jennings,  Phil- 
ip Thomas,  Robert  King  and  Thomas  Colvill,  esquires,  the  wes- 
tern bounds  of  the  province  were  settled  by  a line  from  the  head 
of  the  North  branch  of  Patowmack,  north  to  the  Pennsylvania 
line;  no  other  line  being  settled  it  is  the  present  division  between 
Virginia  and  Maryland,  and  gives  to  the  former  more  lands 
than  if  the  same  bounds  had  run  from  the  head  of  the  south 


52 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


branch  of  that  river.  But  at  that  time  both  colonies  gained  by 
reducing  their  western  frontier  and  it  is  believed  the  British 
board  of  trade  determined  the  line  as  so  run,  the  year  after.  It 
was  however  the  former  year  that  the  assembly  created  a town 
on  Indian  river  calling  it  Baltimore , but  within  Mr.  Penn’s 
claim,  and  proves  that  the  sense  of  the  province  was  with  the 
proprietary  of  Maryland  at  the  time. 

By  the  provisions  of  an  act  relating  to  Charles  town  in  Ce- 
cil county,  laid  out  two  years  before,  appointing  an  inspector,  it 
appears  that  the  manufacture  and  trade  of  flour  began  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  government  at  this  time.  It  is  probable  that 
the  vicinity  of  this  place  to  the  fertile  grain  counties  of  Chester 
and  Lancaster  in  Pennsylvania,  had  created  a market  for  wheat' 
and  flour  at  Charles  town  before  those  articles  had  been  pro- 
duced in  any  considerable  quantities  to  the  south,  although  they 
have  now  succeeded  to  be  staple  articles  of  Maryland,  in  as 
great  if  not  greater  extent  than  tobacco  now  is  or  perhaps  ever 
was;  and  a few  years  after  this  period  provision  was  also  made 
for  regulating  the  trade  in  flour  at  Baltimore  and  Georgetown. 
Such  a change  was  anticipated  and  announced  to  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  by  doctor  Williamson  in  1770,  from  an 
amelioration  of  the  climate  by  cultivation,  but  we  apprehend  it 
is  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  the  scarcity  of  new  grounds  for 
tobacco  in  proportion  to  the  increased  culture,  & the  want  of  pro- 
per husbandry  to  preserve  or  improve  tobacco  grounds  on  the 
one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  the  usual  advantages  derived  from 
a change  of  crops  and  the  high  prices  obtained  for  flour  during 
the  latter  times.  The  regulation  alluded  to  consisted  chiefly 
in  declaring  that  no  flour  should  be  exported  until  inspected  and 
branded  for  good  and  merchantable.  About  this  time  also  the 
inspection  of  tobacco  was  put  on  nearly  the  same  footing  in 
which  it  now  is.  The  fees  of  the  inspectors  had  been  converted 
to  fixed  salaries,  as  the  only  means  to  prevent  corruption  in  such 
offices  where  there  was  a concurrence;  and  the  inspectors,  which 
then  and  for  a longtime  before,  had  been  nominated  by  the  par- 
ish vestries,  are  since  the  revolution  presented  by  the  Levy 
courts  of  the  counties.  Though  tobacco  was  always  sold  by  the 
hundred  pounds,  as  long  as  flour  was  sold  bv  weight  which  it 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


was  until  after  independence,  the  hundred  weight  consisted  of 
one  hundred  and  twelve  pounds  and  the  exportation  of  wheat ; 
which  was  considerable  before  that  event,  ceased  soon  after,  in 
consequence  of  the  improvements  in  mills  and  the  manufacture 
of  flour. 

In  1745  Mr.  Jonas  Green,  who  had  been  five  years  printer 
of  the  laws,  commenced  the  paper  called  the  Maryland  Gazette, 
which  he  published  weekly  at  Annapolis.  It  is  continued  by 
one  of  his  descendants,  twice  a week,  and  it  may  be  asserted 
without  hazard,  is  the  oldest  establishment  of  the  kind  in  North 
America. 

Governor  Bladen  began  the  house  for  which  funds  had  been 
long  provided  and  intended  for  the  residence  of  such  officers,  but 
not  being  finished  it  was  used  by  the  college;  that  gentleman 
returning  to  England  in  1746  Samuel  Ogle,  esquire,  was  ap- 
pointed governor  for  the  third  time. 

In  1748  Frederick  county  was  taken  off  from  Prince  George’s 
and  then  included  all  the  lands  of  Montgomery,  Washington 
and  Allegheny  counties  westward,  there  being  already  a town 
then  called  Frederick.  The  tobacco  trade  at  this  time  was  said 
to  employ  twenty  five  thousand  seamen  and  yield  to  Great  Bri- 
tain, by  exports  at  the  duty  ot  six  pence  per  pound,  one  million 
a year,  besides  the  consumption  of  seven  millions  pounds  there. 

In  1750,  some  further  encouragement  was  given  to  the  mak- 
ing of  iron,  but  slitting  mills  and  tilt  hammers  were  prohibited  in 
the  colonies  by  act  of  parliament.  The  next  year  Georgetown 
on  Patowmack  was  laid  out  on  like  terms  with  other  towns. 

Frederick  only  surviving  son  of  Lord  Baltimore  became  pro- 
prietary while  a minor,  by  the  death  of  his  father  the  twenty 
third  April  1751,  aged  fifty  two  years.  Having  already  noticed 
several  particulars  in  the  private  life  of  Charles  the  fifth 
Lord  Baltimore,  it  may  only  be  added  here,  that  he  mar 
ried  Mary  daughter  of  sir  Theodore  Jansen  of  Wimbledon 
in  Surry;  that  he  devised  the  reversion  of  the  province 
to  his  daughters  and  their  male  heirs,  in  succession,  in  case  of 
default  of  such  heirs  to  his  son,  and  appointed  Messrs.  Bladen 
and  Ogle  two  of  the  executors  ; that  in  the  Chronicles  of  the 
time,  he  is  represented  as  a man  of  elegant  person  and  address. 


54 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


learned  himself  and  a patron  of  science,  enjoying  a splendid  re- 
venue in  a princely  style,  and  that  the  parsimony  of  George 
the  second,  who  confided  to  him  the  chief  offices  about  his  son, 
put  it  in  his  power  to  render  such  munificent  services  to  the 
prince  who  died  the  same  year,  as  would  probably  have  secured  to 
him  the  highest  honors  in  the  state  had  they  survived  the  king. 

In  1752  the  British  parliament  altered  the  calender,  by  which 
the  new  year  commenced  the  first  of  January  instead  of  the  25th 
of  March,  and  the  dates  used  in  these  sketches  from  the  begin- 
ning, as  far  as  could  be  ascertained,  are  according  to  the  new 
style.  Governor  Ogle  going  to  England,  Benjamin  Tasker,  es- 
quire, was  president  and  as  such  governor  of  the  colony  until 
Horatio  Sharpe,  esquire,  was  appointed  governor  in  1753.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Annual  Register,  the  imports  into  England  this 
year  from  Virginia  and  Maryland,  amounted  to  six  hundred  and 
thirty  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy  four  pounds  four 
shillings  and  eight  pence,  and  the  exports  to  three  hundred  and 
fiftv  six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy  six  pounds  eleven 
shillings  and  three  pence,  making  a balance  of  two  hundred  and 
seventy  five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety  seven  pounds 
thirteen  shillings  and  five  pence  in  favour  of  the  provinces.  The 
white  population  is  stated  by  other  authorities  to  be  about  seven- 
ty thousand  each,  but  soon  after  a very  particular  census  of 
Maryland  was  published  in  the  Gentleman’s  Magazine,  by  which 
it  appears  there  were  then  in  the  province : 


Free. 

| Servants. 

Convicts. 

| Total. 

Men, 

24058 

3576 

1507 

29141 

Women, 

23521 

1824 

386 

25731 

Boys, 

26637 

1049 

67 

27752 

Girls, 

24141 

422 

1 

21 

24584 

98357 

6870 

1981 

107,208 

By  the  same  account  the  number  of  mulattoes  > „ _Q0 

amounted  to  5 

And  that  of  Negroes  to  42,764 


Total, 


153,564* 


* A general  census  of  all  the  colonies  was  taken  by  direction 
of  Congress  in  1776,  but  the  result  is  unknown  to  us. 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


5.5 

In  anticipation  of  another  war  with  the  French,  who  now  helil 
forts  and  instigated  the  Indians  on  the  westward  from  the  lakes 
to  the  Mississippi,  a congress  of  the  provincial  and  colonial  go- 
vernments was  held  at  Albany  in  1754,  to  which  Benjamin 
Tasker  and  Charles  Carroll  junior  esquires  were  sent  by  Mary- 
land, for  the  purpose  of  treating  with  the  Six  Nations  : and  at 
which  articles  of  confederation  were  drawn  up  by  a committee 
of  which  Mr.  Tasker  was  one,  for  the  approbation  of  the  parlia- 
ment and  colonial  assemblies,  but  was  rejected  by  each  as  too 
favorable  to  the  other.  It  appeals  that  no  delegates  were  pre- 
sent from  the  royal  government  of  Virginia  or  the  other  colonies 
south,  and  that  a submission  of  all  the  colonial  governments  to 
the  controul  of  a governor  general  of  royal  appointment,  was 
the  object  of  the  crown  and  not  likely  to  be  assented  to  here. 
It  was  in  the  same  year,  general  then  colonel  Washington,  had 
gone  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Ohio  v/ith  Virginia  troops,  and 
first  conquered  and  then  was  obliged  to  surrender  fort  Necessi- 
ty. Maryland  provided  for  the  erection  of  forts  and  blockhous- 
es towards  the  frontiers,  sent  Messrs.  Tasker  and  Carroll  to 
procure  Indian  alliances,  and  placed  a number  of  troops  under 
the  command  of  the  Maryland  lieutenant  colonel  Dagworthy, 
commanding  at  Cumberland,  a new  fort  on  the  Patowmack,  be- 
yond the  colony’s  fort  Frederick , which  last  was  near  Hancock 
town  and  erected  sometime  before.  Our  colonel  then  a British 


captain  only  Judge  Marshall  says, 

claiming  to  rank  above  colo 

In  1790,  our  population  was, 

White 

208,647 

Slaves 

103,036 

Coloured 

8,043 

Total 

319,726 

In  1820,  the  population  was.. 

White 

260,222 

Slaves 

107,398 

Coloured 

39,730 

Total 

407,350 

Males  206,862 — females  200,488.  Excess  of  males  6,374. 
The  following  statement  published  since  the  last  census  iu 
1820,  is  inserted  here  to  show  the  present  number  ia  each  conn 


5,6 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


nel  Washington  the  latter  refused  to  pass  the  Patowmack.  An  act 
of  assembly  was  passed  u for  taking  and  detaining  able  bodied 
men,”  and  a supply  of  forty  thousand  pounds  was  granted  for 
the  sendee,  under  Dagworthv  and  afterwards  under  general 
Forbes.  To  defray  the  expences  of  which  armament  the  assem- 
bly increased  the  former  duties,  and  laid  taxes,  viz.  one  shilling 
per  hundred  acres  on  land,  the  proprietary’s  manors  not  exempt, 
on  horses  forty  shillings,  carriages  of  pleasure  five  shillings  per 
wheel,  billiard  tables  sixty  shillings,  pedlars  eighty  shillings 
and  on  batchelors  five  shillings.  Judiciary  proceedings  and 
conveyances  were  also  taxed,  and  the  lands  of  the  Catholic’s 
were  assessed  double  ; ten  pounds  and  afterwards  fifty  pounds 
were  to  be  paid  for  each  Indian  prisoner  or  scalp,  being  the  skin 
of  the  crown  of  the  head , to  any  person  except  Soldiers  or  Indi- 
an allies,  being  that  kind  of  indemnity  to  which  savages  were 
accustomed  and  most  likely  to  tempt  enemies  to  become 
friends.  Some  of  them  were  subsidised  by  the  colony  and  a 
party  of  Cherokees  visiting  the  seat  of  government  as  allies. 


ty  with  the  increase  or  decrease  in  ten  years,  to  which  is  added 
the  date  of  the  erection  of  the  respective  counties. 


Number 

1 8i0. 

Number 

1820. 

Increase. 

Decrease. 

Erected 

St.  Mary’s 

12794 

12974 

180 

1634 

Kent 

11450 

11453 

3 

1634 

Anne  Arundel 

26668 

27165 

497 

1650 

Calvert 

8005 

8073 

68 

1654 

Charles 

20245 

16500 

3745 

1658 

Baltimore 

29255 

33463 

4208 

1659 

Talbot 

14230 

14389 

159 

1661 

Somerset 

17195 

19579 

2384 

1666 

Dorchester 

18108 

17759 

349 

1669 

Cecil 

13066 

16048 

2982 

1674 

Prince  George’s 

20589 

20216 

373 

1695 

Queen  Anne’s 

16648 

14952 

1696 

1706 

Worcester 

1697 1 

17421 

450 

1742 

F rederick 

34437 

40459 

6022 

1748 

Harford 

18275 

15924 

2351 

1773 

Caroline 

9453 

10108 

6 55 

1773 

Washington 

18730 

23075 

4345 

1776 

Montgomery 

17980 

16400 

1580 

1776 

Allegheny 

6909 

8654 

1745 

1789 

Baltimore  city 

46555 

62738 

16183 

1729 

, HISTOHY  OF  MARYLAND.  57 

received  a considerable  sum  of  money,  and  the  most  friendly 
treatment. 

From  a dispute  between  the  two  branches  of  the  legislature, 
the  upper  house  rejected  some  of  the  bills  of  supplies,  and  the 
province  was  charged  with  a refusal  to  sustain  its  part  of  the  ex- 
pense of  this  war;  but  very  unjustly,  as  was  stated  by  doctor 
Franklin  to  the  parliament;  nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  on  the 
subject,  when  it  is  recollected  that  the  savages  passed  our  forts 
on  the  Patowmack  and  spread  terror  amongst  the  inhabitants  of 
the  oldest  counties  on  the  western  shore,  and  to  the  bay  side, 
after  the  defeat  of  general  Braddock.  They  were  met  and  rout- 
ed at  St.  George’s  creek  and  Loyal  Hanning  in  1758,  but  attack- 
ed colonel  Thomas  Cressap’s  house,  when  they  were  also  de- 
feated in  1762,  a few  captives  being  taken  out  of  their  bands  and 
about  three  hundred  pounds  being  paid  for  scalps  at  the  differ- 
ent engagements,  agreeably  to  the  law. 

In  1758  sir  William  Johnstone,  appointed  Indian  agent  by 
the  government  of  England,  with  some  of  the  governors,  con- 
cluded a treaty  with  the  Six  Nations  and  some  other  Indians, 
among  whom  there  were  Nanticokes  who  had  voluntarily  gone 
from  Maryland.  But  this  treaty  had  been  preceeded  by  the 
evacuation  by  the  French  and  Indians  of  fort  Duquesne , now 
named  fort  Pitt,  in  honor  of  the  minister  just  appointed,  and 
whose  councils  had  produced  a turn  of  affairs  so  favourable  as 
to  endear  him  to  the  colonists.  The  war  terminated  in  1763, 
three  years  after  the  accession  of  George  the  third,  by  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  French  and  Spanish  from  all  their  colonies  on  this 
continent  north  of  the  gulf  of  Mexico  and  Mississippi.  The 
colonists  had  contributed  essentialiy  to  these  acquisitions,  in 
which  as  frontiers  they  were  so  much  interested;  for  instigating 
of  the  Indians  by  the  French  and  Spanish,  which  did  not  cease 
even  with  the  public  hostilities,  had  created  such  violent  animo- 
sities against  those  nations,  in  colonies  exposed  to  savage  ven- 
geance, that  they  entered  into  the  contest  with  vigour ; indeed 
the  very  religion  those  European  enemies  professed  became  more 
obnoxious,  and  its  professors  suffered  some  persecutions  besides 
those  already  noticed.  The  inhabitants  seem  to  have  forgotten 
that  liberality  in  which  the  proviuce  was  founded,  and  which,  as 

8 


58 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EA11LY 


early  as  1676,  had  fostered  the  Protestants  and  produced  the 
establishment  of  many  Episcopal  and  other  churches,  to  recall 
2 the  intolerant  spirit  of  acts  passed  during  the  unsettled  state  of 
the  parent  country  and  generously  repealed  by  their  predeces- 
sors on  the  restoration  of  the  province  to  Lord  Baltimore. 
Of  these  dispositions  the  British  government  which  had  vot- 
ed some  money  to  reimburse  the  colonies,  and  passed  some 
acts  to  encourage  the  importation  of  staves  and  head- 
ing from  them,  thought  to  avail  itself  in  1664,  laying 
new  duties  on  sugar,  coffee,  wine,  silks,  cambrics,  &c.  and  in 
1765,  the  colonies  were  subjected  to  stamps  upon  papers,  legal 
and  mercantile.  But  now  a congress  was  assembled  for  very 
different  purposes  than  the  last ; and  William  Murdock,  Ed- 
ward Tilghman  and  Thomas  Ringgold,  esquires,  deputies,  w'ent 
from  Maryland  to  the  above  congress  at  New  York;  when  it  was 
declared  on  the  part  of  all  the  colonies  north  of  the  Patowmack, 
that  the  colonists  had  the  exclusive  right  to  tax  themselves,  and 
the  British  government  was  addressed  accordingly.  Mr.  Za- 
chariah  Hood,  to  whom  the  stamps  were  sent  for  this  province, 
was  forced  to  quit  Annapolis,  and  in  fact  resigned.  No  stamps 
were  distributed  or  paid  for  in  these  colonies,  but  non-importa- 
tion agreements  were  entered  into  generally  throughout  the 
continent.  An  act  was  passed  the  next  year  by  the  assembly 
of  Maryland,  to  regulate  the  entry  of  vessels  with  passengers  in- 
fected by  contagious  maladies.  The  Stamp  act  was  repealed  in 
1766;  but,  in  pursuance  of  the  authority  to  which  they  consid- 
ered themselves  entitled,  the  parliament  immediately  asserted 
their  power  to  tax  the  colonists  in  all  cases  whatever. 

Messrs.  Charles  Mason  and  Jeremiah  Dixon,  astronomers  of 
celebrity  in  England,  chosen  and  sent  out  by  the  respective  pro- 
prietaries for  the  purpose,  completed  the  division  lines  between 
the  provinces  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland. 

The  form  of  the  latter,  of  which  a very  good  map  was  made 
and  published  by  Dennis  Griffith,  esquire,  in  1794,  situated  be- 
tween thirty  eight  and  thirty  nine  degrees  forty  minutes  north 
latitude,  and  one  degree  fifty  eight  east  and  two  degrees  twenty 
four  west  longitude  from  Washington ; resembling  an  irregular 
angle,  of  which  the  base  is  the  north  bound,  or  east  and  west 


/ 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


5V 


line,  two  hundred  miles  long,  terminating  at  the  former  by  a 
line  nearly  north  and  south,  of  about  eighty  seven  miles,  but 
which  then  runs  eastwardly  about  thirty  five  miles  to  the  sea, 
and  binding  on  that  about  forty  five  miles  to  the  line  of  Virginia, 
then  with  that  line,  and  the  river  Patowmack  to  its  head  or 
source,  and  thence  by  a short  line  due  north  to  the  first  mention- 
ed line  or  base.  Maryland  is  supposed  to  contain  a superfice 
of  seven  million  acres,  of  which  one  and  a half  million  acres 
are  in  water.  Every  part  of  it  is  within  thirty  miles  of  boatable 
navigation,  and,  exclusive  of  that,  the  quantities  of  fish  render 
the  water  almost  as  valuable  as  the  land.  The  Granite  ridge, 
which  commences  in  New  England  and  runs  by  the  head  of  the 
inlets  at  the  west  side  of  the  bay,  to  the  southern  states,  divides 
this  into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  so  that  one  half  the  soil  may 
be  considered  original  and  the  other  alluvial : but  the  colonists 
found  all  a forest.* 

In  1766,  and  in  consequence  as  it  is  stated  in  Hanson’s 
laws,  “ of  the  scarcity  of  specie  & public  credit  being  reduced 
to  an  extreme  low  condition  in  consequence  of  a difference 
which  had  long  subsisted  between  the  two  houses  respecting  the 
claim  of  the  clerk  of  the  upper  house,  and  which  had  for  several 
years  prevented  the  passage  of  the  journal  or  of  the  taking  any 
measures  for  discharging  the  public  debts”  & although  there  was 
due  the  province  twenty-one  thousand  and  ©ighty-eight  pounds 
two  shillings  and  six  pence  sterling  of  tobacco  debt  at  seven 
shillings  & six  pence  per  hundred  pounds,  & the  sum  of  nineteen 

* Doctor  Morse  having  stated  the  quantity  of  lands  in  the  state 
at  fourteen  thousand  square  miles  and  Dr.  Seybert  estimates  the 
population  in  1810,  at  27-13  per  square  mile  and  1-1 9th  of  the 
population  of  the  union,  95-63  females  for  every  hundred  males, 
45-16  slaves  for  every  hundred  free  persons  ; that  the  returns 
of  the  militia  were  thirty -three  thousand  four  hundred  and  ten, 
and  that  in  respect  to  square  miles,  Maryland  ranked  the  ele- 
venth ; in  population  the  eighth ; in  federal  representation  the 
seventh  ; domestic  exports  the  sixth ; manufactures  the  fifth  J 
and  in  the  totals  of  exports,  tonnage  or  revenue  the  fourth 
state, 


60 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


thousand  eight  hundred  & forty -one  pounds  one  shilling  and  two 
pen  e nominal  money,  equal  at  the  real  exchange,  to  eleven  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  & four  pounds  twelve  shillings  & eight  pence 
sterling,  together  thirty-two  thousand  nine  hundred  & ninety-two 
pounds  fifteen  shillings  and  two  pence  sterling,  besides  twenty  six 
thousand  eight  hundred  pounds  bank  stock  and  five  thousand  two 
hundred  and  thirty  pounds  seventeen  shillings  and  two  pence 
interest  not  invested;  an  emission  of  bills  of  credit  was  ordered 
to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  seventy -three  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  thirty  three  dollars  to  pay  the  debts.  The  bills  were 
to  be  redeemed  in  1 777  by  drafts  on  the  trustees  in  London, 
which  happening  during  the  revolution,  drafts  on  them  were  re- 
fused payment  and  was  not  effected  of  course.  Three  years 
after  another  emission  of  three  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand 
dollars  was  ordered,  for  the  purpose  of  lending  on  interest  to 
the  inhabitants  at  four  per  cent,  per  annum  redeemable  bv  the 
money  of  the  preceeding  creation  or  by  bills  on  London;  though 
bills  were  to  be  drawn  instead  of  issues  when  exchange  was  above 
par,  and  the  whole  was  to  be  taken  out  of  circulation  in  twelve 
years,  which  brought  it  under  the  predicament  of  the  other;  that 
is  to  say,  to  be  sunk  by  depreciation,  lost  to  individuals  when 
received  by  them  for  money  and  the  bank  stock  remained  for 
the  treasury. 

The  investments  in  London,  which  in  1776,  by  the  fidelity  of 
the  commissioners  both  at  Annapolis  and  there,  amounted 
to  thirty  thousand  pounds  sterling,  survived  the  shock;  and  from 
a spirit  of  commercial  justice  in  that  government,  elicited  by  the 
talents  of  Messrs.  Chase,  Pinkney  and  other  agents,  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars  were  received  in  1805,  even 
after  a large  discount  to  the  proprietary  and  others  m England. 

In  1767,  after  some  favorable  changes  in  the  customs,  relat- 
ing to  the  transit  and  duties  on  "West  India  produce  in  the  colo- 
nies, parliament  laid  duftes  on  the  importation  here  of  tea,  glass, 
paper  and  colours  from  England.  These  were  resisted  as  the 
stamps  had  been,  and  more  violently,  for  a cargo  which  had  ar- 
med at  Annapolis  was  thrown  into  the  river,  the  consignees 
being  themselves  compelled  by  the  inhabitants  to  effect  it.  All 
the  teas  were  either  burned,  destroyed  or  returned  from  every 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


61 


' 

effects  to  the  sheriffs,  was  the  last  which  received  the  sanction  of 
port  to  which  they  were  sent,  although  it  was  declared  the  pro- 
ceeds were  to  be  spent  in  defence  of  the  colonies,  and  salted 
provision  and  raw  hides  were  to  be  admitted  in  England  from 
i them  free  of  duties. 

In  1768  a law  was  passed  providing  for  the  erection  of  alms 
and  work,  houses  and  trustees  of  the  poor  in  several  counties; 
which  by  other  laws  has  since  been  extended  to  all ; the  poor 
being,  previously,  supplied  at  their  own  houses  by  county  le- 
vies annually. 

Lord  Baltimore  had  the  misfortune  to  loose  his  lady,  who 
was  Diana,  daughter  of  Scrope  Egerton,  duke  of  Bridgewater, 
by  the  overturning  of  a carriage  in  1758,  and  not  marrying 
again,  led  a dissolute  life.  He  was  this  year  prosecuted 
for  an  offence  highly  criminal,  but  voluntarily  submitted  to  his 
trial  in  the  court  of  King’s  bench  setting  at  Kingston  in  Surry, 
where  his  country  residence  was,  and  wheiehe  asserted  his  in- 
nocence before  a jury  of  the  county  .with  eloquence  and  suc- 
cess. 

The  Naliticoke  Indians  represented  that  they  were  few  re- 
maining and  were  desirous  to  dispose  of  their  lands,  provision 
was  made  by  law  for  that  purpose  ; and  thirty  years  after,  the 
Choptank  Indians  made  a similar  representation  with  the  same 
effect,  but  a few  of  the  descendants  of  these  Indians  are  still,  or 
were  lately,  remaining  in  that  neighborhood  under  the  pay  and 
protection  of  the  state  government. 

From  general  Wilkinson’s  memoirs  we  learn  that  about  this 
time,  doctor  Henry  Stevenson  of  Baltimore,  introduced  the 
practice  of  inoculation  with  more  celebrity,  at  least,  in  this 
pait  of  the  country  by  receiving  patients  into  his  spacious  new' 
bouse  there;  which  practice  was  succeeded  by  vaccination 
thirty  years  after,  very  much  by  the  zeal  of  doctor  James 
Smith  of  the  same  place  being  aided  by  the  state  soon  after. 

In  the  same  year  Robert  Eden,  esquire,  who  had  married 
Caroline,  the  youngest  daughter  of  the  late  Lord  Baltimore, 
was  appointed  governor  and  arrived  in  Maryland. 

In  1769,  Mr.  William  Rumsey  of  this  province,  with  other 
members  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  took  the  levels 


62 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


and  made  estimates  for  a canal  between  the  Chesapeake  and 
Delaware,  and  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  of  bills  of  credit 
were  authorised  for  erecting  the  present  splendid  state  house  at 
Annapolis,  which  was  not  completed  before  the  revolution. 

Messrs.  Daniel  Dulany,  Thomas  Johnson,  John  Hall,  Wil- 
liam Paca,  Charles  Carroll,  Barrister  Lancelot  Jacques  and 
Charles  Wallace  were  appointed  commissioners  to  superintend 
the  Erection  of  the  state-house,  on  a spacious  eminence  for  the 
improvement  of  which,  500  pounds  sterling  were  appropriated, 
out  of  the  bills  just  created.  Mr.  William  Anderson  was  the 
architect,  but  it  received  its  present  finish  several  years  after 
by  Mr.  Joseph  Clarke.  It  is  chiefly  built  of  brick  made  at  An- 
napolis. Its  front  to  the  south-east,  is  one  hundred  and  thirty 
feet  and  the  depth  one  hundred  feet,  divided  into  six  rooms  on 
each  of  two  floors,  besides  a spacious  vestibule,  court-room  and 
an  area,  about  forty  feet  square,  over  which  the  dome,  of  the 
same  diameter,  is  raised  to  the  height  of  one  hundred  and  eleven 
feet.  After  raising  a few  steps  to  the  portico  which  is  fifteen 
feet  wide,  the  height  from  the  platform  to  the  cornish  is  thirty- 
six  feet,  aud  the  dome,  galery,  acorn  and  spire  makes  the  whole 
about  two  hundred  feet.  From  the  galery  there  is  a delightful 
view  of  the  city  and  harbor  of  Annapolis,  the  country  round  and 
Severn  and  South  livers,  besides  a distant  and  interesting  pros- 
pect of  the  bay  and  eastern-shore. 

It  was  remarked  in  England,  that  the  Americans  who  used  to 
take  at  least  eighth  of  the  State  Lottery  tickets,  had  nearly  sus- 
pended all  such  adventures.  As  no  lotteries  had  then  been  au- 
thorised by  our  laws,  this  at  least  was  one  effect  of  colonial  retalia- 
tion. 

According  to  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  there  were  entered 
in  Maryland  in  1770,  two  hundred  and  five  ships,  and  one  hun 
dred  and  ninety-seven  sloops,  and  cleared  two  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  ships  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  sloops ; 
and  the  amount  of  exports  the  year  before,  was  one  million,  five 
hundred  and  f fly -four  thousand , four  hundred  and  thirty  dol- 
lars at  four  shillings  and  six-pence  sterling  per  dollar.  Gov- 
ernor Eden  bought  and  improved  the  house  at  Annapolis  used 
at  present  by  the  governors,  being  confiscated  during  the  revolu- 
tion. 


63 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


Frederick  the  6th  and  last  Lord  Baltimore  dying  in  1771, 
in  Italy,  aged  forty  years,  without  legitimate  children,  the  title 
of  Baron  of  Baltimore  became  extinct,  but  Henry  Harford,  esq. 
a natural  son,  was  declared  proprietary,  though  a minor,  in  virtue 
of  his  father’s  will;  of  which  Messrs,  Eden,  Hammersly,  Provost 
and  Morris  were  executors,  and  by  which  Lord  Baltimore  gave  a 
reversion  to  Mrs.  Windham,  Mr.  Harford’s  sister,  who  was  first 
clandestinely  married  to  Mr.  Morris  and  divorced ; then  te 
his  own  younger  sister  Caroline,  Mrs.  Eden,  with  a legacy  of 
twenty  thousand  pounds  between  her  and  his  oldest  sister  Lou- 
isa, then  Mrs.  Browning,  if  they  assented  to  the  will. 

Whatever  was  the  aberance  of  the  last  Lord  Baltimore, 
he  did  not  participate  in  the  late  offensive  measures.  Mary- 
land continued  to  grow  in  people,  wealth  and  happiness  un- 
der his  proprietaryship.  Men  of  genius  and  enterprise  were 
found  in  every  county,  and  the  capital  had  become  a little  court 
of  taste  and  fashion.  If  the  tree  which  was  so  fairly  planted 
by  Cecilius,  and  so  faithfully  nurtured  by  the  first  and  second 
Charles,  yielded  a fruit  of  which  the  exuberance  intoxicated  their 
successor,  the  stock  increased,  spreading  its  branches  majestical- 
ly, and  the  excrecences  being  lopped  off  in  later  times,  it  re- 
mains an  heir-loom,  of  which  they  who  claim  it  by  adoption  as 
well  as  those  who  hold  it  from  birthright,  may  well  be  proud. 

The  exports  to  and  imports  from  Great  Britain  in  1773 
were  greater  than  they  had  been  twenty  years  before,  because 
these  colonies  increased  in  wealth  by  the  more  extensive 
trade  with  the  interior  and  other  colonies  lately  acquired  : As 
the  importations  from  England  must  have  been  materially  af- 
fected by  pubiic  and  private  associations  to  use  domestic  goods. 
Much  of  this  trade  was  no  doubt  forced,  on  Britigh  account,  es- 
pecially that  of  imports  here,  in  anticipation  of  a total  loss  of 
the  market. 

Provision  was  made  by  the  legislatures  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia  for  erecting  a light-house  on  Cape  Henry,  by  a duty  of 
four  pence  per  ton  on  vessels  entering  either  colony.  The  juris- 
diction of  the  county  courts  was  now  extended  in  criminal 
cases  and  matters  of  debt,  to  be  concurrent  with  that  of  the  pro- 
vincial court.  A concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  Chancellor  in 


64 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


cases  in  equity  not  exceeding  ttventy  pounds,  had  been  given  the 
county  courts  in  17G3 ; the  jurisdiction  of  single  justices  was 
now  extended  to  fifty  shillings,  or  eight  dollars  and  thirty -three 
and  a third  cents,  without  fees  ; and  the  tohacco  fees  were  reg- 
ulated at  rates  which,  when  reduced  to  money  at  one  dollar 
sixty-six  and  two-thirds  per  cent,  were  exceedingly  low,  as 
they  have  been  always  and  continue  in  Maryland,  as  well  as 
the  salaries  of  all  offices.  It  appears  that  delegates  to  the  assem- 
bly received  a compensation  in  proportion  to  their  expences 
from  early  times,  and  justices  of  the  peace  and  jurors  also,  whilst 
attending  court. 

The  limitation  of  jurisdiction  to  the  provincial  court  in  all 
criminal  cases  which  were  capital,  except  committed  bv  negroes 
until  now  ; would  have  been  an  intolerable  grievance  to  the 
counties,  if  the  perpetration  of  such  crimes  had  been  frequent. 
The  same  cause  as  to  civil  affairs,  the  charge  of  attending  the 
high  court  at  the  seat  of  government,  in  all  important  cases, 
must  have  prohibited  the  people  from  a baneful  spirit  of  litiga- 
tion. To  have  been  so  much  exempted  from  contests  among  one 
another,  from  murders  and  felonies  destructive  to  life  and  morals, 
wasno  doubt  a source  of  great  happiness ; and  to  be  relieved 
from  the  pain  of  witnessing  executions  or  other  capital  punish- 
ments, in  great  measure,  could  scarcely  be  less  condusive  to  hu- 
man felicity. 

The  legislature  also  created  a new  county,  by  the  name  of 
Harford,  including  all  that  part  of  Baltimore  county  laying  north 
and  east  of  Little  Gunpowder.  Caroline  county  was  erected 
out  of  Dorchester  and  Queen  Anne’s,  the  same  year,  and  a great 
road  directed  to  be  made  from  Cumberland  to  the  nearest  boata- 
ble  navigation  westward  of  the  Alleghany  mountains,  at  the 
charge  of  the  province. 

At  a session  held  in  1774,  being  the  last  under  the  proprie- 
tary government,  further  penalties  were  prescribed  for  obstruct- 
ing the  harbors.  The  principal  roads  to  Baltimore,  which  in 
1804,  were  transfered  to  chartered  companies  and  turnpiked, 
were  opened,  or  straightened  and  widened,  and  bills  of  credit 
loaned  for  making  them ; and  a law  authorising  the  discharge  of 
debtors  under  two  hundred  pounds  sterling,  on  delivery  of  their  ( 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND, 


G 5 


effects  to  the  sheriffs,  was  the  last  which  received  the  sanction  of 
governor  Eden.  He  remained  undisturbed  at  Annapolis  until 
June  1776,  when  he  embarked  in  the  British  sloop  of  war  Fowey, 
captain  Montague,  who  having  a flag,  permitted  fugitives  to  go  on 
board,  and  caused  the  embarkation  of  Mr.  Eden's  baggage  to  be 
obstructed.  Some  British  dispatches  to  him  being  intercepted 
by  general  C.  Lee,  the  general  wrote  the  committee  at  Baltimore 
to  arrest  the  governor,  but  thev  referred  it  to  the  council  ofsafe- 
ty  who  did  not  think  fit  or  necessary  to  comply.  Join- 
ing Dunmore  in  the  bay,  the  governor  went  to  England  and 
was  knighted,  but  returned  to  Annapolis  with  Mr.  Harford  in 
1784,  and  died  near  that  city  soon  after.  The  members  of  coun- 
cil and  of  the  upper-house  in  1774  and  the  last  under  the  pro- 
prietary, were  Benedict  Calvert,  John  Ridout,  John  Beale  Bord- 
!cy,  Georige  Stewart,  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer,  Benjamin 
Ogle,  Philip  Thomas  Lee,  Daniel  Dulany,  William  Hayward, 
William  Fitzhugh,  George  Plater  and  Edward  Lee,  esquires, 
Mr.  Dulany  was  secratary,  Mr.  Fitzhugh,  commissary -general, 
Mr.  Stewart  judge  of  the  court  of  admiralty,  and  with  Mr.  Cal* 
vert  judge  of  the  land  office,  Mr.  Jenifer  receiver-general  and 
agent  of  the  proprietary.  Thomas  Jennings,  esquire,  was  attor- 
ney-general and  Robert  Smith,  esquire,  surveyor-general  of  the 
western  shore,  no  such  officer  being  appointed  for  the  other  shore 
for  some  years  before ; Mr.  Hayward  was  chief  justice  and 
Messrs  Bordley,  Jenifer,  Philip  T.  Lee,  John  Leeds,  John  Cooke, 
and  Joseph  Sim,  associate  judges  of  the  provincial  court. 

Prepared  as  the  people  were,  the  distressing  accounts  re- 
ceived from  Massachusetts,  and  the  encouragement  received  at 
the  same  time  from  Virginia,  the  towns  and  counties  generally 
assembled  and  elected  committees  to  superintend  the  public 
concerns,  legislative  judicial  and  military;  and,  in  less  than 
one  month  after  the  close  of  the  last  assembly  1774,  a conven- 
tion of  delegates  from  the  towns  and  counties  of  Maryland,  met 
at  Annapolis,  to  concert  measures  for  the  relief  of  Boston,  then 
blockaded  and  the  redress  of  grievances  imposed  by  the  British 
government.  We  view  with  amazement,  even  now  perhaps 
more  than  ever,  the  obstinacy  of  that  infatuation  with  which 
the  British  ministry  persisted  in  a system  of  taxation  of  the 

9 


6G 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


colonies  containing  at  least  three  hundred  thousand  fightingmen, 
three  thousand  miles  oft’,  whilst  they  restrained  the  commerce  of 
the  colonists,  which  alone  would  enable  them  to  pay  any  taxes, 
surrounded  too  as  that  government  then  was,  by  powerful  and 
aggravated  rivals;  but  Providence  chose  to  restore  a natural 
state  of  independence  to  a part  of  the  new  world  by  a miraculous 
display  of  human  frailty  in  a part  of  the  old. 

Ninety-two  members  attended  the  provincial  convention, 
which  appointed  Matthew  Tilghman,  Thomas  Johnson,  Robert 
Goldsborough,  William  Paca  and  Samuel  Chase,  esquires,  to  re- 
present the  colony  in  a general  congress ; which  they  recom- 
mended tube  held  at  Philadelphia  in  September  following.  At 
this  congress,  Georgia  was  not  at  first  represented,  and  in  which 
general  Washington  was  a delegate  from  Virginia;  a redress  of 
grievances  was  sought  by  non-importation,  to  which  New-York 
did  not  assent  at  the  time,  and  spirited  remonstrances  against 
restrictions,  taxation,  &c.  addressed  to  the  people  as  well  as  to 
the  government  of  England.  Town  and  county  committees 
were  organised  in  pursuance  of  a recommendation  of  congress  ; 
and  as  occasion  required,  provincial  conventions  assembled  at 
Annapolis.  The  above  named  gentlemen  with  Messrs.  Bordley, 
Jenifer,  Thomas  Stone,  H.  Hooper,  Charles  Carroll  of  Carroll- 
ton, Edward  Lloyd,  James  Holliday,  Thomas  Smith,  Charles 
Carroll,  Barrister,  Richard  Lloyd  and  Robert  Alexander,  were 
appointed  a committee  of  correspondence ; and  they  or  some  of 
them,  with  other  eight  or  nine  persons,  a council  of  safety,  from 
time  to  time,  until  the  government  under  which  we  now  live  was 
organised.  To  this  body  great  discretionary  power  was  grant- 
ed, and  the  habeus  corpus  was  partially  suspended  by  laws 
which  also  justly  defined  treasonable  acts.  Congress  offered  te 
contribute  to  the  national  defence,  if  great  Britain  would  remove 
all  restrictions  on  trade  and  put  Americans  on  a footing  with 
other  subjects  in  this  respect,  in  1775,  but  the  British  government 
at  last  merely  proposed  the  abandonment  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  duties  and  to  suspend  the  pretentions  to  tax  America  by  an 
act  of  parliament. 

In  1776,  the  Congress,  in  which  Messrs.  S.  Chase,  Paca, 
Stone  and  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  represented  Maryland,  declar- 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


67 


ed  the  independence  of  the  Union ; having  the  year  before,  ap- 
pointed general  Washington  to  the  command  of  the  American 
army  stationed  before  Boston.  Maryland  received  and  protect- 
ed the  national  representatives  at  Baltimore  being  threatened  by 
the  British  army  on  the  Delaware,  before  the  end  of  the  year. 

The  plan  of  government  formed  by  the  convention  of  Mary- 
land in  1776  has  received  several  important  alterations;  the  coun- 
ties have  been  divided  into  election  districts;  all  white  male  citi- 
zens made  eligable  voters,  and  all  others  excluded  and  the  man- 
ner of  voting  being  changed  fron  viva  voce  to  ballot.  Some 
qualifications  to  offices  have  also  been  removed,  but  it  is  remark- 
able that  all  Christian  ministers  are  still  excluded  by  their  profes- 
sion. Eighty  members,  four  for  each  county  and  two  each  for  An- 
napolis and  Baltimore  form  the  house  of  delegates,  being  elected 
directly  by  the  citizens  annually,  and  nine  senators  for  the  west- 
ern and  six  for  the  eastern-shore,  elected  by  half  the  number  of  the 
delegates,  every  five  years  compose  the  2d  branch  of  the  legisla- 
ture. The  two  branches  elect  the  governor  and  five  councillors 
annually,  and  the  governor  and  council  appoint  the  judges,  who 
hold  their  offices  during  good  behaviour. 

It  was  by  the  convention  that  Frederick  county  was  divid- 
ed into  Frederick,  Washington  and  Montgomery  counties,  and 
in  1789,  Alleghany  county  was  taken  from  Washington  by  an 
act  of  assembly,  completing  the  present  number  of  nineteen, 
eleven  of  which  on  the  western  and  eight  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  bay.  One  or  two  individuals  at  Annapolis,  and  as  many  in 
some  of  the  counties,  were  pronounced  enemies  to  the  cause  of 
the  colonies,  and  underwent  some  persecutions  and  even  per- 
sonal violence , but  the  public  authorities  uniformly  condemned 
such  violence,  and  prevented  any  serious  consequences. 

“ in  this  memorable  interval  between  the  fall  of  the  old  and 
the  institution  of  the  new  government,”  says  the  late  chancellor 
Hanson,  in  the  preface  to  his  edition  of  the  laws,  “there  ap- 
peared to  exist  amongst  us  such  a fund  of  public  virtue  as  scarce- 
ly a parallel  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  although  many  occasions 
occurred  in  which  intemperate  zeal  transported  men  beyond  the 
just  bounds  of  moderation,  not  a single  person  fell  a victim  to 
the  oppression  of  this  irregular  government and  he  continues, 


(38 


SKETCHES  ©Li*  THE  EARLY 


Ct  without  this  virtue,  the  opposition  of  a country  unskilled  in 
war,  destitute  of  arms,  inferior  far  in  numbers,  and  wanting 
almost  every  thing  for  which  it  had  before  relied  solely  on  its 
now  inveterate  enemies,  the  opposition  of  such  a people  to  the 
efforts  of  the  most  powerful  nation  on  the  globe  would  have  been 
feeble  indeed.” 

Besides  their  own  entire  self-government  immediately  obtain- 
ed, the  citizens  would  have  enjoyed  a free  intercourse  with  all 
4the  world  but  for  the  war.  The  church  establishment  was  abo- 
lished, however,  all  sects  of  Christians  being  equally  privileged 
and  protected,  and  taxes  were  to  be  no  longer  levied  on  the  in- 
dividuals per  poll,  or  by  classes  and  numbers,  but  according  to 
their  property,  and  as  far  as  practicable,  their  means  of  enjoy- 
ment. 

The  constitution  was  carried  into  effect  with  great  unanimi- 
ty early  in  1 777.  After  the  new  senate  and  delegates  had  elect- 
ed Thomas  Johnson,  esquire,  governor,  and  Messrs,  Josiah  Polk, 
John  Rogers,  Edward  Lloyd,  Thomas  Sim  Lee  and  Joseph  Sinf, 
councillors,  Messrs  Carroll  and  Brice  declining,  they  proceeded 
to  provide  for  the  exigencies  of  a state  of  war.*  The  continental 
and  state  money  was  made  a legal  tender,  and  the  currency 
which  had  been  sometime  uncertain,  was  fixed  at  the  rate  of 
seven  shillings  and  six  pence  to  the  dollar. 

The  recruiting  service  was  promoted,  and  the  state  sent  to 
the  army,  under  general  Smallwood  and  others  at  different  times, 
about  fourteen  thousand  regular  troops,  besides  drafts  cf  militia  ; 


* Governor  Johnson  being  twice  re-elected  and  having 
served  the  three  political  years  limited  by  the  constitution,  was 
succeeded  by  the  following  gentlemen  at  the  several  periods  an- 
nexed to  their  names  respectively: 


Thomas  Sim  Lee, 
William  Paca, 
William  Smallwood, 
John  Eager  Howard, 
George  Plater, 
Thomas  Sim  Lee, 
John  Hoskins  Stone, 
John  Henry, 
Benjamin  Ogle, 


1779 

1782 

1785 

1788 

17911 

1792 

1794 

1797 

1798 


John  Francis  Mercer,  1801 

Robert  Bowie,  1803 

Robert  Wright,  1806 

Edward  Lloyd,  1809 

Robert  Bowie,  1811 

Levin  Winder,  [ton,  1812 

Charles  Ridgely,of  Hamp- 1815 
Charles  Goldsborough,  1818 

Samuel  Sprigg,  1819 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


69 


and  a flotilla  of  gailies  and  small  vessels  were  provided.  Among 
other  gentlemen  who  entered  the  continental  army  from  this 
state  were  Messrs.  Uriah  Forrest  and  Benjamin  Ford,  of  St. 
Mary’s  county,  James  Wilkinson  of  Calvert,  Philip  Steuart 
and  John  H.  Stone  of  Charles,  Mordecai  Gist,  Samuel  Smith, 
John  E.  Howard  and  Nicholas  Rogers  of  Baltimore,  Josias  Car- 
vel Hall  of  Harford,  Nathaniel  Ramsay  of  Cecil,  Otho  H.  Wil- 
liams of  Washington,  William  Richardson  and  Peter  Adams  of 
Caroline,  James  Hindman  of  Talbot,  John  Gunby  and  Levin 
Winder  of  Somerset,  Moses  Rawlings  and  Patrick  Sim  of  Anne 
Arundel,  Edward  Tillard,  Thomas  Woolford  and  Ludwick 
Weltner  of  Frederick. 

The  trade  ot  the  Chesapeake  was  interrupted  very  early, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  year,  Lord  Howe  landed  the  British 
army  under  his  brother,  sir  William,  on  Elk-neck;  from  whence 
they  proceeded  to  Philadelphia,  after  their  success  at  Brandy- 
wine. In  the  same  year  also,  the  British  army  under  Burgoyne 
capitulated  at  Saratogo  to  general  Gates.  Charles  Carroll,  bar- 
rister, Solomon  W right  and  John  Beale  Eordley,  esquires,  were 
appointed  judges  of  the  general  court,  and  Thomas  Jennings, 
esquire,  attorney-general.  Thomas  Harwood,  junior,  esquire, 
was  made  treasurer  of  the  western-shore,  and  William  Hind- 
man, esquire,  treasurer  of  the  eastern-shore. 

In  1778,  the  alliance  was  made  with  France,  and  the  articles 
of  confederation  published  by  congress,  and  in  1781  count  de 
Grasse  entered  the  bay;  and  with  the  allied  troops,  general 
Washington,  captured  the  British  army  and  lord  Cornwallis  at 
York.  The  same  year,  Maryland  having  vainly  waited  for  as- 
surances that  the  western  country  would  be  considered  the 
joint  territory  of  the  confederacy,  assented  to  the  articles  of 
confederation.  Provision  being  made  for  a court  of  appeals, 
Benjamin  Rumsey,  Benjamin  Mackall,  the  fourth,  Thomas 
Jones,  Solomon  Wright,  and  James  Murray,  esquires,  'were  ap- 
pointed judges. 

In  1780,  the  quit  rents  were  abolished  as  an  acknowledge- 
ment of  a seigniory  incompatible  with  the  absolute  sovereignty 
of  this  free  and  independent  state , of  which  other  colonists 


70 


SKETCHES  OP  THE  EARLY 


were  freed  already,  as  it  was  said  ; and  every  landed  estate  be- 
came allodial  instead  of  feudal,  but  the  equal  inheritance  of  all 
children  of  intestates  was  not  determined  against  the  heir  at 
law , until  six  years  after.  In  the  meantime,  all  British  proper- 
ty was  confiscated  ; the  proprietary’s  manors  and  reserved  lands 
fell  to  the  state  of  course,  and  a treble  tax  was  imposed  on  non- 
jurors  to  redeem  the  black  and  red  money,  by  which  the  other 
was  drawn  out  of  circulation  at  various  rates  of  depreciation  and 
in  succession. 

There  was  however  a surplus  received,  the  interest,  of  which, 
added  to  the  receipts  from  duties  before  the  federal  constitution 
was  adopted,  licences  and  fines,  defrayed  the  public  expendi- 
tures of  the  state,  and  general  assessments  of  supplies  ceased  in 
1785;  that  is,  before  the  monies  borrowed  of  Messrs  Vanstaphorst, 
of  Amsterdam,  had  been  repaid  ; being,  we  believe,  half  a mil- 
lion, for  the  loan  was  payable  in  tobacco,  and  cost  by  the  rise 
of  that  article  after  the  peace,  as  much  or  more  in  damages  as 
was  first  borrowed;  or  the  recovery  of  the  British  bank  stock, 
which  amounted  to  six  hnndred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.! 

The  claims  which  Mr.  Harford  came  to  urge  in  person  after 
the  war,  amounting,  for  the  quit  rents  at  twenty-five  years  pur- 
chase, to  six  hundred  and  ninety-one  thousand,  nine  hundred 

t In  1816  exports  of  domestic  produce  from  the  state  of  Ma- 
ryland according  to  the  official  returns  published, 

amounted  to  - Sd, 834,490 

and  foreign  products  to  - - 2,504,277 

making  together  - , - 7,338,767 

The  registered  tonnage  of  vessels  employed  in  foreign  trade 
was  - - - - - 83,123  tons, 

enrolled  in  the  coasting  trade  - 64,161 

licenced  vessels  in  the  same  trade  8,777 


making  together  156,061  tons. 

and  the  revenue  on  customs  received  by  the  United  States  from 
the  State  of  Maryland,  exclusive  of  drawbacks  and  ex- 
pences  of  collection,  amonted  to  2,771,910  dollars. 

In  1798,  George  Town,  with  about  fifty  square  miles,  having 
been  ceeded  to  the  United  States  in  1791,  there  were  as- 
sessed in  Maryland,  five  million,  four  hundred  and  forty- 


HISTORY  of  MARYLAND* 


7i 


and  sixty-five  dollars,  and  sixty-seven  cents ; and  for  lands,  to 
eight  hundred  and  seventy-three  thousand,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-six  dolls,  were  rejected,  but  he  has  received  with  other 
loyalists  a considerable  indemnity  from  the  British  government 
as  did  Mrs.  Browning  and  Mrs.  Eden,  a lesser  sum  between 
them,  and  about  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling  was 
also  obtained  by  Mr.  Harford  out  of  the  state’s  stock  then  in 
England. 

Having  by  the  peace  of  1783  secured  their  own  indepen- 
dence, congress  setting  at  Annapolis,  received  the  resignation  of 
general  Washington,  and  our  legislature  immediately  prohibited 
the  introduction  of  slaves  altogether,  and  declared  the  persons 
and  property  of  free  blacks  within  the  guardianship  of  the  laws 
of  tha  state,  and  soon  after  abolished  the  claims  of  the  eldest 

four  thousand,  two  hundred  and  seventy-two  acres  of  land, 

amount 21,634,004  dollars 

16,932  houses  amount  to  - 10,738,286 

32,372,290  dollars. 

and  in  1814,  the  lands  and  improvements, 

were  valued  at  106,490,638  dollars 

and  the  slaves  at  - - - 16,086,934 

122,577,572  dollars. 

Upon  which  there  were  received  in  1816,  $ 149,099 
And  by  other  internal  taxes,  - - 349,847 

The  state’s  capital  stock,  as  stated  to  the  legislature  in  1820,  of 
which  there  was  in  the  U.  States’ 
stock  six  per  cent.  - $133,717  83 

United  States’ three  per  cent.  - 335,104  74 

Stock  in  the  Potowmack  Company  120,444  44 
Loan  to  Do.  30,000  00 

Stock  indifferent  banks  of  the  state  516,100  00 
Do.  Frederick  & York  Turnpike  Co.  15,000  00 
Do.  Union  Manufacturing  Company  10,000  00 
Debts  due  by  individuals, 
loans  to  schools,  &c.  - - 67,766  12 

amounted  to  $1,223,133  13j; 


X This  stun  is  stated  according  to  the  votes  and  proceedings, 
though  apparently  short  jive  thousand  dollars. 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  EARLY 


72 

sons  anti  divided  estates  equally  among  children  of  intestates, 
extended  the  privileges  and  income  of  the  colieges  at  Annapo- 
lis and  Chester  united  for  a university,  which  they  held  uutil 
1805.  Lands  in  Ylleghauy  county  were  given  the  soldiers  and 
the  land  office  was  again  opened  for  the  sale  of  the  vacancies  at 
from  two  shillings  to  ten  shillings  per  acre.  Companies  were 
incorporated  to  open  and  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Patow- 
mack  and  Susquehanna  rivers ; the  jurisdiction  of  the  former, 
the  bay  and  Pocomoke  rivers  being  adjusted  on  equal  and  just 


The  capital  was  stated  in  1801,  to  amount  to  one  million,  one 
hundred  and  thirty -six  thousand.  If  the  three  per  cents, 
were  sold  at  the  rate  now  current,  it  would  appear  that 
there  has  been  little  increase  or  diminution  of  capital  since 
that  time. 

From  the  statement  of  the  last  and  present  years  it  appears  that 
the  annual  expences  of  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 

pensioners,  are  - 18,000  dollars 

Donations  to  colleges  - 12,000 

Penitentiary  charges  - 10,000 

Legislature  one  session  - - 85,000 

Judges  salaries  - 32,400 

Governor,  Chancellor,  & other  officers  12,600 


Total  120,000  dollars. 

That  the  interest  from  U.State3’  stock  is  1 8,000 
Fines  and  licences,  retailers,  pedlars, 

marriages,  &c.  - 35,000 

Dividands  of  banks  and  roads  - 26,000 

Sales  of  land,  interest  on  debts,  &c.  21,000 


Total  100,000  dollars. 


Leaving  an  annual  deficit  of  about  20,000  dollars* 

and  the  sum  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dolls,  received 
for  the  states’  stock  in  England  in  1805,  principally  advanced 
on  account  of  the  United  States  in  the  late  war,  but  returned 
for  the  most  part,  is  absorbed.  At  the  same  time  the  half  pay  of  J 
the  revolutionary  soldiers  has  been  increased  in  number  of  pen- 
sioners and  the  dividends  on  bank  stock  has  fallen. ; still  the 
only  material  consideration  is,  whether  the  investments  have 
been  made  in  such  institutions  as  are  best  calculated  to  advance 
the  interest  of  the  state  by  the  advancement  of  the  peoples  means 
of  prosperity  and  happiness. 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


rs 


terms  with  Virginia,  by  Messrs.  Jenifer,  Stone  and  S.  Chase,  on 
the  part  of  Maryland. 

Loans  had  been  obtained  abroad  by  the  State,  as  mentioned 
before,  and  by  the  United  States,  during  the  war;  and  with  the 
latter,  Mr.  Robert  Morris  was  enabled  to  establish  a Bank,  and 
provide  for  the  most  urgent  expenses,  after  the  fall  of  the  pa- 
per money.  A continental  debt  of  about  sixty  millions,  requir- 
ed at  that  time,  great  exertions  even  to  pay  the  interest,  and 
while  the  importations  from  England  were  excessive,  the  citi- 
zens were  excluded  from  some  of  her  dominions,  and  had  not 
shipping  to  be  the  carriers  of  all  their  own  saleable  products 
any  where. 

Some  of  the  States  again  resorted  to  papef  money,  but  Mary- 
land, by  the  perseverance  of  the  smallest  branch  of  the  Legis- 
lature, refrained  from  a system  which  had  been  so  injurious  to 
many.  Though  in  1776  and  1777,  indispensible,  it  was  other- 
wise now,  in  a state  of  peace  and  independence.  The  money 
created  must  have  been  loaned  out  at  some  risk,  or  lavished  in 
expenses,  and  a people  who  are  debtors  or  creditors  of  their 
government,  are  not  the  most  likely  to  maintain  its  principles. 
So  also,  they  who  pay  no  taxes,  or  think  they  have  nothing  to 
pay,  are  too  apt  to  suffer  all  other  matters  of  government,  to  be- 
come a sport  or  jest,  and  be  in  danger  of  losing  their  best  pri- 
vileges by  their  indifference.  By  the  federal  constitution,  the 
power  of  emitting  bills  of  credit  was  taken  away  from  the  State 
i governments,  but  they  may  still  raise  money  by  loans  or  taxes; 
and  any  government  is  limited  in  other  respects,  to  little  purpose 
perhaps,  which  can  borrow  money  or  lay  contributions  for  all 
sums,  by  all  modes,  and  give  and  t^ke  bounties  at  its  own  discre- 
tion. For  as  to  debts  contracted  by  loans  or  otherwise,  too 
many  do  not  think  of  the  contracts  until  they  must  be  paid,  and 
few  prefer  future  to  present  advantage;  with  a little  art,  old 
debts  are  paid  by  new  loans,  until  the  amount  has  accumulated 
to  such  a degree  that  it  is  esteemed  madness  to  talk  of  redemp- 
tion; and,  as  to  taxes,  there  is  a paradox  of  which  governments 
that  are  popular  especially,  will  be  tempted  to  avail  themselves; 
they  will  lay  the  contribution  upon  articles  which  pass  through 

10 


74 


SKETCHES  OE  TflE  E A 114.1 


many  hands  between  the  maker  and  the  consumer,  by  which  the 
tax  has  as  many  advocates  as  contributors;  each  one  retains  not 
only  that  portion  which  was  first  bonded  for,  but  a premium  for 
himself;  vainly  will  they  tax  luxuries;  they  that  buy  or  consume 
them,  are  they  who  fix  the  price  of  labour,  because  the  means 
are  universal,  and  the  people  may  be  ground  down  to  poverty 
almost  without  knowing  the  art  or  the  artist;  and  here  is  the 
paradox,  that  which  is  least  burthensome  is  the  most  offensive, 
whilst  that  which  extracts  the  most  from  the  hands  of  labour  is 
least  opposed. 

Maryland  and  some  other  States  laid  taxes  and  duties  for  the 
payment  of  continental  debts  and  the  support  of  the  confedera- 
tion. A tender  made  of  power  to  levy  a duty  of  five  per  cent, 
on  all  imports,  and  offers  to  agree  to  a general  act  of  navigation 
by  this  State,  were  not  accepted  by  Congress  for  want  of  the 
assent  of  others,  and  a deficiency  was  constantly  experienced. 

This,  with  the  individual  embarrassments  of  the  people,  pro- 
duced the  convention  which  first  met  at  Annapolis  in  1786,  and 
in  Philadelphia  in  1787,  when  the  present  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  wa3  formed;  Maryland  being  represented  by 
Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer,  James  McHenry,  Danl.  Carroll, 
of  Dudington,  and  Luther  Martin,  Esquires. 

The  Constitution  by  them  proposed,  was  adopted  very  soon, 
and  almost  unanimously  by  the  people  of  this  State,  and  went 
into  operation  in  1789  underthe  presidency  of  Gen.  Washington. 

The  form  of  this  government  is  not  unlike  that  of  Maryland 
and  other  State  governments.  Its  powers  are  expressly  limited, 
“to  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  of  the 
United  States,”  by  enumerated  grants,  which  include  the  regu- 
lation of  foreign  intercourse,  commerce  and  navigation,  making 
war  or  peace,  treaties  of  alliance  or  commerce,  establishing  and 
maintaining  armies  and  navies,  naturalization  and  bankrupt 
laws,  coining  money,  transportation  of  letters,  granting  patents, 
courts  of  justice,  systems  of  revenue,  &c.  Each  State  is  re- 
presented by  two  senators,  and  representatives  of  the  people  ac- 
cording to  their  numbers;  Maryland  having  at  this  time  nine,  and 
cho-oses  eleven  electors  of  President  and  Vice-President,  all  at 


HISTORY  OF  MARYLAND. 


75 


different  intervals  of  time.  It  is  an  efficient  if  not  energetic  form 
of  government,  and  has  been  a basis  for  new  modeling  several 
State  governments,  though  it  can  never,  like  they  sometimes  had, 
become  by  fair  means , a depositary  of  the  whole  sovereignty  of 

the  people. 

In  the  life  of  Washington,  as  written  by  Judge  Marshall,  may 
be  seen  the  history  of  the  opposition  to  the  internal  taxes  laid 
by  Congress;  for  which  Maryland  sent  troops  to  the  westward; 
and  to  the  neutral  attitude  assumed  by  the  government  in  1793. 

Thence  arose  the  division  of  the  citizens  into  two  political 
parties,  which  was  confirmed  by  the  Treaty  of  Amity  with  Eng- 
land in  1794,  and  the  hostilities  against  the  French  in  1798. 

In  other  books  or  treatises  will  be  seen  the  extraordinary  in- 
crease of  our  wealth  and  population,  notwithstanding  the  ob- 
structions to  which  this  nation  was  exposed  since  the  close  of 
the  last  century,  by  the  continued  revolutions  in  Europe,  and 
the  wars  which  they  caused;  difficulties  which  continued  under 
the  successors  of  Washington,  until  in  1807,  all  foreign  trade 
was  suspended  above  a year,  by  acts  of  Congress,  and  in  1812, 
the  United  States  were  forced  from  their  wonted  neutrality,  and 
plunged  into  another  war  with  Great  Britain. 

The  effects  of  this  war  upon  the  State  of  Maryland,  are  toft 
recent  to  be  forgotten.  The  British  landed  on  Patuxent  in  1814, 
and  captured  the  seat  of  the  general  government,  but  failed  in 
an  attempt  upon  Baltimore  soon  after. 

Though  the  treaty  which  restored  peace  to  us,  was  silent  on  the 
major  as  well  as  the  minor  objects  of  the  war,  and  though  we 
had  incurred  a debt  as  much  greater  than  that  of  the  former  war, 
as  the  means  of  the  country  were  then  less  than  at  the  present 
period,  the  United  State3  were  relieved  by  the  general  cessation 
of  hostilities,  from  the  practical  evils  of  disputed  principles  as- 
sumed by  the  belligerents  in  relation  to  neutrals;  and,  early  re- 
verses having  changed  the  scene  of  action  more  favourably  to  our 
arms  on  land,  the  close  of  it  was  accompanied  by  achievements 
there,  equal  to  those  which  had  been  effected  at  sea,  and  a confi- 
dence in  the  national  prowess  arose  becoming  a people  arrived 
at  maturity. 


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Errata , 

FOR  THE  ANNALS. 


Page 

Line  for 

read 

4, 

20, 

County  last. 

first  County. 

5, 

16, 

only  4s. 

only  2s.  then  4s. 

13, 

3, 

extensively, 

exclusively. 

21, 

4, 

yet  living, 

yet  (1824)  living. 

1, 

part  of. 

including. 
10  L. 

33, 

3, 

19  L, 

35, 

13, 

North, 

West. 

41, 

28, 

Washington, 

Monument. 

(C 

29, 

dele  streets. 

43, 

20, 

Barre, 

Pratt,  (Earl  of 

Camden) 

50, 

7, 

Front, 

F rench. 

54, 

29, 

Mogan, 

Morgan, 
and  nearly  lost. 

66, 

28, 

and  lost, 

69, 

2, 

of  146, 

146  of. 

85, 

24, 

Loupon, 

London. 

88, 

31, 

Hugon, 

Hugo. 

136, 

9, 

declining, 

dying. 

.147, 

12, 

referred  the  citizens,  was 

equivalent. 

. « 

29, 

choir. 

chime. 

148, 

14, 

4,807, 

48,007. 

161, 

20, 

Gerey, 

Gerry, 

165, 

30, 

large, 

larger. 

173, 

12, 

depreciated. 

deprecated. 

175, 

19, 

now, 

new. 

183, 

20, 

customary. 

customers; 

184, 

19, 

successively, 

in  this  church. 

193, 

5, 

Cloppe’s, 

Clopper’s. 

cc 

10, 

are. 

all  their  width. 

196, 

3. 

slaves. 

coloured  persons. 

300, 

22, 

meetings, 

writings. 

201, 

29, 

citizens, 

the  writer  drafts  a 

313, 

8, 

Armstrong, 

Armistead. 

221, 

11, 

1799, 

• 1779. 

226, 

262, 

top 

24, 

of  page,  for  1816 
Nathaniel, 

, read  1817. 

Martin. 

265, 

« 

Nathan. 

« 

19, 

James  Brackenridge,  John 

Breckenridge. 

288, 

24, 

them, 

the  Rivers. 

389, 

93, 

1817, 1819, 

1817  to  1819. 

Errata , 

FOR  THE  SKETCHES, 


Page 

Line 

for 

read 

10, 

12, 

1738, 

1638. 

11, 

33, 

1346, 

1646, 

14, 

1, 

were, 

was, 

17, 

3 

Nicholls, 

Sedgwick. 

ft 

27, 

Thurlor, 

Thurloe. 

22, 

18, 

1763, 

1663. 

« 

21, 

1759, 

1659. 

te 

24, 

1664, 

1663. 

24, 

9, 

had, 

has  since. 

25, 

4, 

1771, 

1671. 

37, 

23, 

Protestant, 

Royal. 

38, 

24, 

inalienable, 

concomitant. 

58, 

9, 

1664, 

1764. 

60, 

28, 

Pi— 7*ey, 

Pinkpey. 

74, 

22, 

Dudihgton, 

Rock  run. 

***  ♦ 

nt 


i J'  ' 

au'Mtfi 

- . ■. 


. 

• 

* 


» 

. 


ANNALS 


OF 


3 


BY  THOMAS  W.  GRIFFITH. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1833,  by  Thomas  W.  Griffith 
Clerk’s  office  of  the  District  Court  of  Maryland. 


BALTIMORE: 

TRUSTED  BY  WILLIAM  WOODDY, 

.Vo.  6 / S.  Calvert  street. 


The  inhabitants  of  Maryland,  much  attached  to 
the  proprietary  Government,  had  violently  opposed  the 
establishment  of  Cromwells’  usurpation  amongst  them, 
so  that  Cecilius,  lord  Baltimore,  anticipated  a retroces- 
sion of  the  Government  of  the  province,  and  furnished 
Capt.  Josias  Fendallwitha  commission  to  receive  and 
govern  it  in  1657. 

This  gentleman  had  been  very  active  in  the  civil  com- 
motions of  the  Country,  and  formed  a party,  which,  af- 
ter they  had  got  the  province  the  next  year,  assumed 
the  government  of  it,  and  he  accepted  a new  commis- 
sion from  them,  independent  of  the  proprietary,  the 
year  after. 

The  Governorvthen  exerted  his  authority  by  send- 
ing Col.  Nathaniel  Utie,  who  had  been  instrumental 
to  his  elevation  and  was  made  one  of  his  Council,  to 
warn  the  Dutch  from  New  Castle,  which  being  within 
the  40th.  deg.  of  N.  Lat.  was  part  of  the  territory  of 
Maryland  granted  to  lord  Baltimore ; and  the  same 
year,  that  is  in  1659,  issued  patents  for  lands  in  Baltir 
I more  County*  which  he  then  erected,  to  Col.  Utie  and 
I others. 


4 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1660. 

Upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  the  2nd.  Philip  Cal- 
vert Esq.  who  had  acted  as  Secretary  of  the  province 
for  some  time,  was  appointed  by  his  Brother,  justly  of- 
fended with  Fendalls’ treachery,  to  the  office  of  Gover- 
nor, and  on  the  20th  July  1661,  captain  Thomas  How- 
ell, captain  Thomas  Stockett  and  Messrs.  Thomas  Pow- 
ell, Henry  Stockett  and  John  Taylor,  stiled  commis- 
sioners of  the  county,  held  a court  at  the  house  of 
captain  Howell,  the  presiding  commissioner,  Mr.  John 
Collett  being  their  clerk. 

Thus  it  appears  from  the  records  of  the  County,  al- 
though it  is  said  in  Mr.  Bacon’s  collection,  that  an  act 
passed  in  1663,  “for  seating  of  lands  in  Baltimore 
county,”  was  rejected  by  the  proprietary. 

All  the  navigable  rivers  emptying  into  the  Chesa- 
peake bay  had  been  fully  explored,  and  trade  establish- 
ed with  all  the  natives  of  the  country,  who  remain- 
ed on  their  shores,  yet  all  the  settlements , were  within, 
the  six  counties  of  St  Marys,  Kent,  Talbot,  Calvert, 
Charles  and  Anne  Arundel ; — As  the  county  last  in- 
cluded all  the  western  shore,  until  the  creation  of 
others,  so  Baltimore  county  maybe  considered  at  first,  con- 
taining all  the  lands  within  the  province,  north  of  Anne 
Arundel,  on  the  west  of  the  bay,  including  even  Cecil 
beyond  Elkriver. — The  lines  of  Anne  Arundel  in  1698, 
wrere  the  high  lands  north  of  Magothy  to  Patuxent  ri- 
ver, and  Baltimore  was  bounded  westward  by  that  or 
Charles  county,  until  Prince  George’s  was  laid  off. 
then  including  Frederick,  &c.  ill  1695. 


1662. ]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  5 

There  is  an  inventory  of  tbe  Estate  of  Mr.  Abra- 
ham Haldman  on  the  records  of  the  orphan’s  court, taken, 
1666,  by  Messrs.  William  Hollis  and  Joseph  Fallen, 
deputed  by  the  Governor,  as  commissary  General,  for 
these  courts  were  not  established  until  after  the  Inde  - 
pendence. 

It  appears  that  in  1662,  the  year  after  the  first* 
county  Court  was  held,  contracts  were  made  for  To- 
bacco deliverable  at  JVorth  Point;  that  Mr.  Abraham 
Clarke,  a shipwright,  was  amongst  the  first  settlers 
on  the  north  side  Patapsco  river,  and  that  Mr.  Charles 
Gorsuch,  of  the  Society  of  Friends  or  Quakers,  took 
up  and  patented  50  acres  of  land  on  Whetstone  Point; 
it  being  the  practice  wdiile  there  were  few  competi- 
tors, to  take  up  but  little  waste  land,  though  the  pur- 
chase money  was  only  4s.  the  quit  rent  4 s.  per  annum, 
and  alienation  4s.  sterling  per  100  acres,  payable  in 
Specie,  Tobacco  or  other  products. 

The  next  land  taken  up  w hich  lies  within  the  pre- 
sent limits  of  the  City,  was  the  glade  or  bottom,  on 
each  side  of  the  run  now  called  Hartford  run,  in 

1663,  by  Mr.  Alexander  Mountenay,  for  200  acres,  and 
called  Mountenay’s  neck. 

In  1668  Timber  neck,  laying  between  the  heads  of 
the  middle  and  north  branches  of  Patapsco,  was  patent- 
ed for  Mr.  John  Howard,  and  in  the  same  year,  that  tract 
north  of  it,  upon  which  the  first  town  of  Baltimore  w^ay 
laid  out,  was  granted  to  Mr.  Thomas  Cole,  for  550  acres, 
ooiiori  Cole's  Harbour. — This  rior|  from 


6 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1668. 

Mountenay’s  land,  westerly,  across  the  north  side  of 
the  river,  one  mile,  and  northwardly  from  the  river, 
about  half  a mile,  but  in  the  form  of  a rhomboid,  di- 
vided into  two  nearly  equal  parts  by  the  stream  after- 
wards called  Jane's  Falls . Copus’s  Harbour,  Long  Is- 
land point,  Kemps’  addition  and  Parkers’  Haven  on 
the  east,  Lunns’  lot  and  Chatsworth  on  the  west,  on 
the  south  David’s  fancy,  and  on  the  north  Salisbury 
plains,  Darley  Hall  and  Gallow  barrow,  were  patented 
for  different  persons  at  later  periods,  and  have  been  add- 
ed to  the  town,  with  other  tracts  since. 

It  seems  that  Mr.  Cole  left  an  only  daughter,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Charles  Gorsuch,  and  they  sold 
and  conveyed  separately , in  1679  and  1682,  the  tract 
called  Cole’s  Harbour,  to  Mr.  David  Jones,  who  gave 
his  name  to  the  stream,  and  therefore  believed  to  be  the 
first  actual  settler,  having  his  residence  on  the  north 
side  of  it  near  the  head  of  tide  water,  and  where  the 
stream  was  crossed  without  a bridge,  by  the  great  eas- 
tern road ; this,  passing  down  a drain  or  gully  north  west 
of  the  Parish  Church  Lot,  from  the  southwest,  after  cros- 
sing turned  north  easterly,  in  the  direction  of  what  is 
now  called  French  Street.  Cole’s  Harbour  came  into 
the  possession  of  Mr.  James  Todd,  who  was  the  step- 
son of  Jones,  and  also  the  whole  or  part  of  Mounte- 
nay’s neck,  having  intermarried  with  the  owner’s  daugh- 
ter, as  is  supposed.  Mr.  Todd  resurveyed  the  first  Tract 
and  procured  a new  patent  for  it,  by  the  name  of  Todd’s 
range,  in  1696,  for  510  acres;  and  in  1702,  Todd 
and  wife,  jointly  conveyed  135£  acres  of  Mounte- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


7 


1702.] 

nay’s  neck,  and  164£  acres  of  Cole’s  Harbour  to  Mr. 
John  Hurst,  who  was  an  Inn-keeper  and  kept  an  Inn 
at  or  near  Jones’s,  and  the  remainder  of  the  latter  tract, 
to  Charles  Carroll,  Esq.  agent  of  the  proprietary. 

Immediately  after  his  purchase  Mr.  Hurst  mortga- 
ged his  300  acres,  of  the  two  tracts,  to  Capt.  Richard 
Colegate,  one  of  the  County  Commissioners,  who  lived 
on  a creek  bearing  his  name,  below  the  north  branch 
of  Patapsco. 

In  1711,  Mr.  Carroll  sold  31  acres  of  his  part  of 
Cole’s  Harbour,  with  a mill  seat,  to  Mr.  Jonathan  Han- 
son, millwright,  who  erected  the  mill  of  which  the  re- 
mains are  yet  standing  near  the  north  west  intersection 
of  Holliday  and  Bath  Streets. 

In  1726  Mr.  Edward  Fell,  a merchant  from  Lancas- 
shire  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  had  settled  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Falls,  took  an  escheat  warrant  and 
employed  Mr.  Richard  Gist  to  survey  Cole’s  Harbour 
or  Todd’s  Range,  and  the  next  year  purchased  the 
right  to  it  of  John  Gorsuch,  son  of  Charles;  but  the 
sons  of  Mr.  Carroll,  then  lately  deceased,  entered  a 
Caveat,  and  prevented  a new  grant. 

Within  a few  years  past,  that  is,  above  100  years  af- 
ter the  new  patent  had  been  granted  Mr.  Todd,  a very 
respectable  young  gentleman  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Jones, 
came  from  England  to  inquire  for  his  ancestors’  Land, 
but  on  learning  the  above  circumstances,  gave  up  all 
further  pursuit. 


8 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1726- 

By  Mr.  Gist’s  return  of  the  survey,  it  appears  the 
then  improvements  consisted,  besides  the  mill,  in  two 
dwellings,  Tobacco  houses,  Orchards,  &c.  The  land 
being  about  one  half  cleared  and  midling  in  quality; 
and  on  vacancies  added,  another  dwelling,  Tobacco 
houses,  &,c. 

In  1682,  John  Boring  Esq.  is  presiding  Justice  of 
the  County  Court,  Thomas  Hedge,  Esq.  Clerk  of  the 
County.  When  in  1692,  the  seat  of  Government  was 
moved  from  St.  Mary’s  to  Annapolis,  and  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church  was  established  in  Maryland,  in 
consequence  of  the  Revolution  in  England,  and  the  gov- 
ernment of  Maryland  had  been  assumed  by  the  crown, 
Baltimore  County  wras,  like  the  rest,  divided  into  parish- 
es; all  Christian  sects  being  equally  privileged  until 
then.  St.  Paul’s,  St.  Andrew’s,  St.  George’s  and  St. 
John’s  were  the  first  and  only  parishes  in  this  County 
for  a long  time.  There  were  not  Clergymen  in  the 
Country  to  supply  all  the  parishes  erected,  so  that  cer- 
tain fees  were  appointed  besides  usual  compensations 
in  Tobacco  per  poll,  and  magistrates  were  prohibited 
from  performing  marriage  rites,  to  encourage  ministers 
to  emigrate,  as  was  expressly  stated. 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  Church  in  this  parish  arid 
perhaps  in  the  County,  was  in  Patapsco  neck  on  or  ad- 
joining Mr.  Partridge’s  land,  near  Bear  Creek,  though 
it  is  certain,  Friends  or  Quakers,  had  meetings  at  Mr. 
John  Giles’  wTho  was  one  of  them,  and,  as  early  as  1 720, 
purchased  Upton  court,  being  the  land  on  Whetstone 
point,  and  between,  the  Town  and  Ferry  branch  and 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


9 


1692.] 

perhaps  meeting  houses  near  where  the  town  now  is. 
So  early  as  1676,  Mr.  Jeremiah  Eaton  devised  500 
acres  of  land  for  the  first  protestant  minister  settled  in 
the  county,  which  was  in  1719,  confirmed  to  the  rector 
of  St.  John’s  parish,  in  which  the  land  was  situated, 
and  his  successors.  The  grant  wTas  of  more  value,  as 
in  the  same  year,  Charles  lord  Baltimore  succeeding 
his  father  Cecilius,  suspended  the  grants  upon  condition 
of  emigration , and  soon  after  fixed  the  price  or  consid- 
eration money  at  200  lb.  Tobacco  per  100  acres.  It  is 
known  that  there  were  three  or  four  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Churches  in  the  province  at  the  time  Mr.  E aton 
made  the  above  donation  and  it  is  probable  the  people 
of  that  society  assembled  to  worship  in  Patapsco  neck, 
long  before  they  had  parishes  created. 

In  1693  George  Ashman  Esq.  was  presiding  Justice 
of  the  county  court  and  in  1698  Henry  Wriothesly 
Esq.  was  county  clerk.  In  the  year  1695  Prince 
George’s  county  was  taken  from  the  north  west  side  of 
Charles  and  Anne  Arundel,  and  became  the  limit  of 
Baltimore,  until  in  1748,  Frederick  county  was  taken 
from  the  north  west  side  of  Prince  George’s. 

In  1705  Aquilla  Paca  Esq.  was  sheriff  of  Baltimore 
county,  and  in  1706  he  was  succeeded  by  Francis  Dal- 
ahide  Esq.  in  1708  colonel  James  Maxwell  was  presi- 
ding Justice  of  the  county  court,  and  so  continued  a- 
bout  twenty  years,  during  which  period  the  sheriffs’ 
office  was  filled,  three  years  each,  by  Messrs.  James 
j Presbury,  appointed  in  1710;  John  Dorsey  1713;  John 

2 


10  AKNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1715.. 

Stokes  1716;  Edward  Hall  1710;  Francis  Holland 
1722  and  William  Smith  1725. 

No  effects  of  the  great  Revolution  in  England  which 
placed  the  prince  of  Orange  on  the  throne,  are  discover- 
ed here,  except  those  relating  to  the  church  establish- 
ment. It  must  be  admitted  that  the  colonial  system  was 
rather  invigorated  than  otherwise,  but  moderated  by 
Queen  Anne ; in  whose  reign  the  rate  of  money  of  ac- 
count was  fixed  at  133 ±1.  for  100Z.  sterling;  the  pre- 
sent rate  of  interest  established,  and  a general  post  for 
letters ; nor  Was  the  restoration  of  the  government  of 
the  province  to  the  proprietary  by  George  1 in  1715,  , 
signalised  by  any  particular  event  in  this  county; 
though  there  are  several  important  regulations  enacted  i 
at  that  period  which  are  still  in  force. 

In  1723  the  Rev.  Mr.  William  Tibbs,  colonel  John 
Dorsey,  Messrs.  John  Isreal,  William  Hamilton,  Thos. 
Tolley,  John  Stokes  and  Thomas  Sheridine,  were  ap- 
pointed visiters  of  the  county  school,  for  which  duties  j 
were  laid  by  the  legislature  as  for  free  schools  in  the 
other  counties  some  years  before.  Mr.  Tolley  sold  a 
tract  for  the  purpose,  of  100  acres  at  10s.  per  acre, 
being  less  than  the  value  and  perhaps  a nominal  con-j 
sideration,  on  the  south  side  of  Gunpowder  and  near 
the  county  town,  where  the  free  school  wras  kept  until 
a short  time  before  the  Revolution,  and  for  which  trus- 
tees have  been  lately  appointed  by  Act  of  Assembly. 

In  1726,  the  bounds  of  Anne  Arundel  and  Baltimore 
counties  were  fixed  on  the  south  shore  of  the  Patapscoy 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


11 


1726.] 

and  with  the  south  fork  of  the  Falls,  thence  to  Snow- 
den’s branch  of  the  Patuxent,  and  as  far  as  the  lines  of  the 
former  county,  and  two  years  after  the  south  bounds  of 
St.  Paul’s  Parish  were  fixed  at  the  same  rivers,  at 
which  time  the  Rev.  Mr.  Joseph  Hooper  was  the  rector, 
and  perhaps  the  first  settled  minister  of  the  Parish. 

The  establishment  of  Ports,  Towns,  &c.  was  among 
the  instructions  first  given  to  the  Governor,  pursuant 
to  the  Charter,  but  Charles  lord  Baltimore,  was  leaving 
the  Province  to  contend  with  the  crown  for  a share  in 
the  government  of  Maryland,  which  he  finally  lost,  as 
already  noticed. 

In  1683,  several  towns  or  ports  of  trade  were  crei 
ated  by  act  of  Assembly , and  in  this  county,  one  on 
Patapsco  near  Humphrey’s  Creek,  and  another  on 
Bush  River,  on  the  toicn  land  near  the  Court  House. 
The  next  year  another  town  was  laid  out  on  middle  riv- 
er, and  two  years  after  a town  Avas  also  laid  out  on 
Spesutie  Creek,  and  another  on  GunpoAvder  at  West- 
bury’s  point,  but  that  on  Middle  river  was  suspended. 

In  1706,  Whetstone  point  Avas  made  a toAAn;  the 
next  year  another  place  on  Gunpowder  called  Taylor’s 
choice,  Avas  made  a toAvn,  and  the  town  where  the  old 
Court  House  Avas,  being  discontinued , a new  Court 
House  is  directed  to  be  built  there.  Queen  Anne  re- 
jecting the  latter  acts  and  the  former  being  generally 
repealed,  with  others  approved  by  lord  Baltimore  before 
William  and  Mary  assumed  the  government  of  the  pro- 
vince for  the  croA\Tn  in  1689,  it  became  necessary  to  coh- 


8 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1726' 

By  Mr.  Gist’s  return  of  the  survey,  it  appears  the 
then  improvements  consisted,  besides  the  mill,  in  two 
dwellings,  Tobacco  houses,  Orchards,  &c.  The  land 
being  about  one  half  cleared  and  inidling  in  quality; 
and  on  vacancies  added,  another  dwelling,  Tobacco 
houses,  &c. 

In  1682,  John  Boring  Esq.  is  presiding  Justice'  of 
the  County  Court,  Thomas  Hedge,  Esq.  Clerk  of  the 
County.  When  in  1692,  the  seat  of  Government  was 
moved  from  St.  Mary’s  to  Annapolis,  and  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church  was  established  in  Maryland,  in 
consequence  of  the  Revolution  in  England,  and  the  gov- 
ernment of  Maryland  had  been  assumed  by  the  crown, 
Baltimore  County  was,  like  the  rest,  divided  into  parish- 
es; all  Christian  sects  being  equally  privileged  until 
then.  St.  Paul’s,  St.  Andrew’s,  St.  George’s  and  St. 
John’s  were  the  first  and  only  parishes  in  this  County 
for  a long  time.  There  were  not  Clergymen  in  the 
Country  to  supply  all  the  parishes  erected,  so  that  cer- 
tain fees  were  appointed  besides  usual  compensations 
in  Tobacco  per  poll,  and  magistrates  were  prohibited 
from  performing  marriage  rites,  to  encourage  ministers 
to  emigrate,  as  was  expressly  stated. 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  Church  in  this  parish  arid 
perhaps  in  the  County,  was  in  Patapsco  neck  on  or  ad- 
joining Mr.  Partridge’s  land,  near  Bear  Creek,  though 
it  is  certain,  Friends  or  Quakers,  had  meetings  at  Mr. 
John  Giles’ who  was  one  of  them,  and,  as  early  as  1720, 
purchased  Upton  court,  being  the  land  on  Whetstone 
point,  and  between  the  Town  and  Ferry  branch  and 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


9 


1692.] 

perhaps  meeting  houses  near  where  the  town  now  is. 
So  early  as  1676,  Mr.  Jeremiah  Eaton  devised  500 
acres  of  land  for  the  first  protestant  minister  settled  in 
the  county,  which  was  in  171 9,  confirmed  to  the  rector 
of  St.  John’s  parish,  in  which  the  land  was  situated, 
and  his  successors.  The  grant  wTas  of  more  value,  as 
in  the  same  year,  Charles  lord  Baltimore  succeeding 
his  father  Cecilius,  suspended  the  grants  upon  condition 
of  emigration , and  soon  after  fixed  the  price  or  consid- 
eration money  at  200  lb.  Tobacco  per  100  acres.  It  is 
known  that  there  were  three  or  four  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Churches  in  the  province  at  the  time  Mr.  E aton 
made  the  above  donation  and  it  is  probable  the  people 
of  that  society  assembled  to  worship  in  Patapsco  neck, 
long  before  they  had  parishes  created. 

In  1693  George  Ashman  Esq.  was  presiding  Justice 
of  the  county  court  and  in  1698  Henry  Wriothesly 
Esq.  wras  county  clerk.  In  the  year  1695  Prince 
George’s  county  was  taken  from  the  north  west  side  of 
Charles  and  Anne  Arundel,  and  became  the  limit  of 
Baltimore,  until  in  1748,  Frederick  county  was  taken 
from  the  north  west  side  of  Prince  George’s. 

In  1705  Aquilla  Paca  Esq.  was  sheriff  of  Baltimore 
county,  and  in  1706  he  was  succeeded  by  Francis  Dal- 
ahide  Esq.  in  1708  colonel  James  Maxwell  was  presi 
ding  Justice  of  the  county  court,  and  so  continued  a- 
bout  tvrenty  years,  during  which  period  the  sheriffs’ 
office  was  filled,  three  years  each,  by  Messrs.  James 
Prcsbury,  appointed  in  1710;  John  Dorsey  1713;  John 

2 


14 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE 


[1729. 

it  were  so,  the  preference  given  to  his  grounds,  over 
those  on  which  the  town  was  placed,  would  shew  a 
want  of  judgment  in  those  who  applied  to  him,  which 
might  have  been  more  fatal  to  us  their  decendants,  than 
his  refusal  was  to  his  heirs.  Unless  a seaport  is  actu- 
ally upon,  or  very  near  the  seaboard,  the  head  of  naviga- 
ble water  must  be  preferred  to  the  side  of  a river,  and  still 
more  to  a point  on  that  river,  other  circumstances  being 
equal ; for,  the  advantages  of  direct  intercourse  with  the 
sea  can  only  be  compensated  by  additional  intercourse 
with  the  land,  as  respects  trade  and  commerce;  whilst  in 
respect  to  defence  from  foreign  enemies,  approaching  by 
water,  at  least,  the  means  are  so  much  greater  in  pro- 
portion as  a part,  the  branch,  is  less  than  the  whole  river. 

The  head  of  the  north  west  branch  being  then  select- 
ed, a petition  was  prepared  for  the  Assembly  by  some 
of  the  county  commissioners,  or  justices,  and  others, 
and,  agreeably  to  their  prayer,  an  act  was  passed  in 
1729,  entitled,  “an  act  for  erecting  a town  on  the 

NORTH  SIDE  OF  PATAPSCO,  IN  BALTIMORE  COUNTY,  AND 
FOR  LAYING  OUT  INTO  LOTS,  CO  ACRES  OF  LAND  IN  AND 
ABOUT  THE  PLACE  WHERE  ONE  JOHN  FLEMMING  NOW 

lives.” — Flemming  -was  a tenant  of  Mr.  Carroll,  and 
resided  in  a house,  then  usually  called  a Quarter , 
standing  on  the  north  bank  of  Ukler’s  run,  and  near 
general  Strieker’s  house,  Charles  street.  By  this  act, 
which  was  similar  to  that  in  1683  and  other  town  acts., 
Baltimore  was  to  be  a privileged  place  of  landing,  load- 
ing and  selling  or  exchanging  goods.  Major  Thomas 
Tolley.  Wm.  Hamilton,  Esq.  Wm.  Buckner,  Esq.  doc- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE 


15 


1729] 

tor  George  Walker,  Richard  Gist,  Esq.  doctor  George 
Buchanan  and  colonel  Wm.  Hammond  were  appointed 
commissioners.  They  were  all  justices  of  the  county, 
except  doctor  Walker,  and  as  such,  generally  deputy 
commissaries ; Some  of  them  were  delegates  before  or 
after.  Mr.  Gist,  then  deputy  surveyor  of  the  Western 
Shore, was  the  son  and  heir  of  Mr.  Christopher  Gist,  or 
Guest,  as  in  some  records,  who  had  settled  on  the 
south  side  of  Patapsco  as  early  as  1682,  and  died  be- 
fore the  river  became  the  bounds  of  the  county ; Doc- 
tor Buchanan,  who  came  from  Scotland,  purchased 
lands  and  practised  medicine  in  the  county,  from  the 
year  1723;  Colonel  Hammond  was  probably  the  son  of 
Mr.  John  Hammond,  w ho  settled  on  the  north  side  of 
Patapsco,  upon  lands  for  which  he  paid  40s.  sterling 
per  acre,  as  early  as  1695;  Mr.  Hamilton  purchased 
lands  in  the  county,  as  appears  by  the  records,  in  1710  ; 
Doctor  W^alker  w ith  a brother  James,  had  practised 
medicine  in  Anne  Arundel  county  some  years,  but  came 
to  reside  in  this  county  about  the  year  1715,  and  was  the 
proprietor  of  that  well  known  seat  and  tract  of  land,  on 
the  west  side  of  the  town,  called  Chatswrorth,  and  Mr. 
Buckner  had  not  apparently  been  long  settled  in  the 
country,  but  in  1 726  became  purchaser  of  several  tracts 
of  land  in  Patapsco  neck. 

These  commissioners  were  appointed  for  life,  since 
they  wrere  authorised  to  fill  their  own  vacancies;  appoin- 
ting their  owrn  clerk,  and  were  directed  to  purchase  by 
agreement  or  obtain  by  valuation  of  a jury,  the  above 
mentioned  60  acres  of  land,  being  part  of  Cole's  Har- 
bour or  Todd’s  range,  which  they  were  to  lay  out  in 


16 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE, 


[1729. 

the  most  convenient  manner  into  60  lots ; to  be  erected 
into  a Town  to  be  called  Baltimore  town;  which,  as 
well  as  the  name  given  to  the  county,  was  in  compli- 
ment to  the  proprietary,  whose  ancestor  received  his 
title  of  Baron  from  a sea  port  of  that  name  in  the 
county  of  Cork  in  Ireland.  The  first  choice  of  one 
lot  was  reserved  by  the  act  for  the  owner  of  the  land, 
and  none  to  take  up  more  than  one  lot  during  the  first 
four  months,  nor  any  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  county, 
within  six  months ; after  which,  vacant  lots  might  be 
taken  up  by  any  other  persons.  The  takers  up  of  lots 
to  pay  the  owners  of  the  land,  in  proportion  to  their 
lots.  This  was  to  give  such  persons  an  absolute  estate 
in  fee  simple,  to  such  lots,  provided  they  erected  there- 
on within  eighteen  months,  a house  that  should  cover 
400  square  feet;  if  not  so  improved  any  other  person 
might  take  up  and  enter  upon  such  lots,  paying  the 
commissioners  the  valuation  first  set  on  them,  with  the 
same  condition  of  building  thereon;  but  all  such  lots 
as  were  not  taken  up  within  seven  years,  reverted  to  the 
owner  of  the  land.  The  lots  of  some  other  towns 
were  to  pay  the  proprietary  of  the  province  Id.  sterling 
each  per  annum ; in  this  there  was  a saving  of  rights 
only,  to  secure  the  quit  rent  and  portion  of  gold  and 
silver  mines  for  the  crown,  agreeably  to  the  original 
charter. 

On  the  first  of  December  the  same  year,  Messrs. 
Richard  Gist  and  Wm.  Hamilton  and  Doctors  Buchanan 
and  Walker,  agreed  with  Mr.  Charles  Carroll,  acting 
for  himself  and  brother  Daniel,  sons  of  the  agent  lately 
deceased,  for  the  60  acres,  to  be  paid  for  at  40  shil- 
lings each,  in  money  or  tobacco  at  Id.  per  pound 


1730]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  17 

On  the  12th  of  January  1730,  new  stile , assisted  by 
Mr.  Philip  Jones,  the  county  surveyor , the  commis- 
sioners laid  off  the  Town,  commencing  at  a point  neaf 
the  north  west  intersection  of  what  are  now  called 
Pratt  and  Light  streets  and  running  north  westerly, 
along  or  near  Uhler’s  alley,  towards  the  great  eastern 
road  and  a great  gully  or  drain  at  or  near  Sharpe 
street,  then  across  Baltimore  street,  east  of  the  gully 
north  easterly  with  the  same  road,  afterwards  called 
the  Church  road  and  now  McClellan’s  alley,  to  the 
precipice  which  overhung  the  falls,  at  or  near  the 
south  west  corner  of  St.  Pauls  street  and  St.  Pauls  lane, 
then  with  the  bank  of  that  stream,  southerly  and  eas- 
terly, various  courses  unto  the  low  grounds  ten  perches 
west  of  Gay  street,  including  the  Fish  street  church 
lot,  then  due  south  along  the  margin  of  those  low 
grounds  to  the  bank  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
near  the  south  east  corner  of  General  Smith’s  house, 
and  then  by  that  bank  various  courses,  nearly  as  Wa- 
ter street  runs,  westerly  and  southerly  to  the  first  men- 
tioned point;  making  thus  by  its  original  bounds,  the 
form  of  an  ancient  lyre ; so  that  the  first  plan  of  the 
new  Town  of  Baltimore,  did  not  resemble  the  town  of 
the  same  name  in  Ireland,  which  stands  on  a promon- 
tory in  the  sea ; whereas  here,  the  base  of  the  lyre  fronts 
towards  the  sea  and  the  top  points  inland. 

Within,  our  town  was  divided  by  Long  street , now 
called  Baltimore  street,  running  1 3 perches  from  east 
to  west  and  four  perches  wide,  intersected  at  right  angles 
by  Calvert  street,  then  not  named.  56  J perches  from 

3 


IS 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1730. 

the  hill  near  the  falls  north,  to  the  river  side  south,  also 
four  perches  wide  and  by  Forrest  street , after- 
wards  called  Charles  street,  89^  perches  in  the  same 
course,  and  three  perches  wide.  There  were  also 
six  lanes  of  the  width  of  one  perch,  since  widened 
and  called  East,  South,  Second,  Light,  Hanover  and 
Belvidere  streets  and  three  lanes  of  the  same  width, 
still  called  Lovely,  St.  Paul’s  and  German  lanes.  The 
lots,  containing  about  an  acre  each  and  numbered  one 
to  sixty,  commenced  on  the  north  side  of  Baltimore 
street  and  running  westward,  returned  eastward  on  the 
south  side. 

On  the  fourteenth  and  on  several  of  the  following 
days,  the  office  was  open  for  takers  up , and  it  appears 
that  the  proprietor,  Mr.  Carroll,  chose  number  49, 
which  was  the  east  side  of  Calvert  street  next  the 
the  river  bank;  Mr.  Gist  taking  the  lot  on  the  opposite 
side  of  Calvert  street.  Other  lots  were  taken  by  Messrs. 
Walker,  Jones,  Jackson,  Hammond,  Price,  Buckner, 
Sheridine,  Powell,  Ridgely,  Trotten,  North,  Hewitt, 
Gorsucli  and  Harris,  all  inhabitants  of  the  vicinity. 
From  a very  early  transfer  by  Messrs.  Jackson  and 
Price  to  Messrs.  Peel  and  Gordon,  of  Annapolis,  it  is 
probable  that  the  former  were  mere  agents.  Some  of 
the  others  did  not  improve  in  time,  and  their  lots  wrere 
taken  by  new  settlers  in  succession ; but  some  lots  fell 
to  the  original  proprietor,  not  being  taken  up  within 
seven  years. 

From  the  small  quantity  of  ground  originally  taken 
for  the  town,  and  from  the  difficulty  of  extending  the 
town  in  any  direction,  as  it  was  surrounded  by  hills, 


1730.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  19 

water  courses  or  marshes,  it  is  evident  that  the  com- 
missioners did  not  anticipate  either  its  present  com- 
merce or  population.  The  expense  of  extending  streets^ 
jof  building  bridges  and  of  levelling  hills  and  filling 
marshes,  to  which  their  successors  have  been  subjected, 
and  which,  unfortunately,  increases  that  of  preserving 
the  harbour  as  improvements  increase  and  soil  is  loo- 
sened, have  been  obstacles  scarcely  felt  in  other  Amer- 
ican cities;  but  requiring  immense  capitals  of  them- 
selves, against  which  nothing  but  the  great  local  advan- 
tages for  internal  and  external  trade  would  have  ena- 
bled the  citizens  to  contend.  The  alluvion  of  the  falls, 
spreading  from  the  shore,  from  Hartford  run  to  South 
street,  already  limited  the  channel  of  the  river  on  the 
north  side  of  it,  and  formed  some  Islands  which  con- 
tinued to  be  overflowed  by  high  tides,  until  the  islands 
and  shoals  were  made  fast  land  as  they  now  are.  Cer- 
tainly the  commissioners  were  not  regardless  of  the 
navigation,  or  they  would  not  have  located  the  town  by 
the  water,  yet  the  exterior  lines  no  where  reached  the 
shore,  and  one  street  only,  Calvert  street,  appeared 
to  communicate  with  it;  for  between  the  east  end  of 
Baltimore  street  and  the  falls,  there  was  a marsh,  and 
on  the  south,  Charles  street  terminated  at  Uhlers 
spring  branch,  or  rather  a precipice  which  stood  on  the 
south  side  of  it,  as  did  the  north  end  of  Calvert  street, 
at  a greater  precipice,  where  indeed  other  commission- 
ers closed  the  street  by  erecting  the  Court  House,  which 
their  successors  first  arched,  fto  procure  a passage  un- 
der it,  and  others  finally  removed  altogether. 


20 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE, 


[1730, 

The  situation  relative  to  other  parts  of  the  country 
however,  afforded  the  most  direct  communication;  the 
proximity  of  better  soil ; the  great  security  presented  by 
the  harbour;  the  abundance  of  Stone,  Lime,  Iron  and 
timber,  and  the  proximity  of  seats  for  water  works, 
all  contributing  to  make  the  first  part  of  the  town  the 
centre  around  which  additions  have  been  nearly  equal- 
ly made,  affords  some  proof  of  the  commissioners’  judg- 
ment and  foresight.  It  is  to  be  noticed  also,  that  the  i 
lots  towards  the  river  were  all  taken  within  the  first 
three  days,  and  not  one  of  those  on  Baltimore  street 
except  that  on  the  north  side,  next  adjoining  the  great 
public  road,  now  McClellan’s  alley. 

In  the  same  year,  Mr.  Wm  Fell,  ship  carpenter  and 
brother  of  Edward,  bought  of  Mr.  Lloyd  Harris,  the 
tract  on  the  Point,  called  Copus’s  harbour,  and  erected 
the  mansion,  still  standing  on  Lancaster  street,  some 
time  after. 

It  appears  that  Roger  Mathews,  Esq.  wras  presiding 
justice  at  this  time,  and  Thomas  Sheridine,  Esq.  sheriff, 
but  the  latter  was  succeeded  the  same  year  by  John  Hall, 
Esq. 

The  acts  of  the  ensuing  session  furnish  another 
evidence  of  the  zeal  of  the  founders  of  our  city.  Find- 
ing the  money  appropriated  by  law  three  years  before, 
for  erecting  a parish  church,  wras  not  employed,  they 
procured  the  passage  of  an  act  the  ensuing  session  di- 
recting the  vestry  to  purchase  a lot  for  that  purpose,  and 
building  the  church  in  the  town,  to  be  called  St.  Paul’s 
church.  Lot  No.  1 9 w as  selected,  being  the  most  elevated 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


21 


1731.] 

ground  on  the  plot,  and  part  of  that  on  which  St.  Paul’s 
church  now  stands;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Joseph  Hooper 
the  Rector  became  a taker  up  of  lots  the  same  year. — 
He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Benedict  Bourdillon  be- 
fore the  church  was  finished;  which  was  not  until  about 
the  year  1744. 

Down  to  the  year  1758,  we  have  no  knowledge  of 
any  other  churches  or  meetings  for  worship  here,  but 
of  the  established  churches  and  of  the  Society  of 
Friends,  or  Quakers,  of  which  latter  Society  it  appears, 
a very  great  portion  of  the  first  settlers  of  Baltimore 
county  consisted.  It  was  a short  time  before  the  set- 
tlement of  the  county  that  they  first  arose,  and  were 
now  persecuted  in  England;  and  from  the  time  of  the 
establishment  of  the  Episcopal  church  in  the  pro- 
vince, the  right  of  affirmation  and  other  privileges 
were  extended  to  them  and  their  meetings;  that  of 
worship,  they  and  all  other  Christian  sects  enjoyed  from 
the  first  planting  of  the  province.  In  this  vicinity,  there 
were  the  families  of  Gorsuch,  Giles,  Fell,  Hopkins, 
Mathews,  Taylor,  and  others  who  were  Quakers,  for 
whom  the  last  mentioned  gentleman  appropriated 
grounds  near  the  one  mile  stone  on  the  Hartford  road, 
where  they  erected  a meeting  house  and  worshipped 
many  years. 

The  county  town  of  Joppa,  being  afflicted  by  small 
pox,  the  legislature  suspended  the  sessions  of  the  court 
part  of  the  year  1731. — A circumstance  the  more  un- 
fortunate for  that  place  as  Baltimore  wras  then  prepar 
ing  to  become  its  rival. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1732 


)o 
>*** 

In  1732,  a new  town  of  ten  acres  was  laid  off  into 
twenty  lots,  valued  at  1 50  pounds  of  tobacco  each,  on 
that  part  of  Cole’s  harbor  which  was  first  improved,  east 
of  the  falls,  and  where  Edward  Fell  kept  store;  belong- 
ing, it  is  said  in  the  return  of  the  jury,  to  the  orphan 
children  of  Richard  Colegate,  and  called  in  some  re- 
cords, Jonas , but  afterwards  Jones’s  town,  in  com- 
pliment to  one  of  the  former  owners  of  the  land;  of 
which  major  Thomas  Sheridine,  captain  Robert  North, 
and  Messrs.  Thomas  Todd,  John  Cockey  and  John 
Boring  were  commissioners,  who  also  appointed  doctor 
Walker  their  clerk.  Messrs.  Sheridine  and  Cockey 
being  then  county  justices. 

Major  Sheridine  had  taken  up  land  in  the  county  as 
early  as  1721  and  in  1734,  purchased  the  Kingsbury 
lands  at  the  head  of  Back  river,  where  the  furnace  was 
afterwards  erected,  and  general  Smith  built  a mill. 
Captain  Robert  North,  who  took  the  lot  No.  10  at  the 
north  west  corner  of  Baltimore  and  Calvert  streets,  and 
erected  the  house  on  lot  No.  2 Jones  street,  in  which 
Mr.  John  Gross  now  resides,  upon  the  laying  out  of 
Jones’s  town,  had  visited  the  Patapsco  and  carried 
freights  in  the  ship  Content,  which  he  commanded,  as 
early  as  1723.  Mr.  Thomas  Todd  was  the  son  and 
heir  of  captain  Thomas  Todd,  who  removed  from  Vir- 
ginia and  purchased  the  land  at  North  Point  in  1664, 
which  had  been  first  taken  up  by  Messrs.  William 
Batten  and  Thomas  Thomas.  Mr.  John  Cockey  pur- 
chased lands  near  Patapsco  in  1728,  the  year  after  his 
brother  Thomas  settled  in  the  Limestone  Valley,  on 
the  York  road.  Mr.  Boring  was  a merchant,  whose 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


23 


173 2] 

father  had  bought  several  tracts  of  land  on  Patapsco 
neck,  as  early  as  1679. 

This  town  consisted  of  three  streets,  or  one  street 
with  three  courses  corresponding  with  the  meanders  of 
the  bank  of  the  falls,  from  a great  gully  at  Pitt  street, 
to  the  ford  at  the  intersection  of  the  old  road  where 
French  street  commences,  and  which  was  afterwards 
called  Front,  Short  and  Jones  streets;  on  the  last 
of  which,  at  the  south  west  corner  of  Bridge  street, 
as  since  called,  and  the  only  cross  street,  stood  Mr. 
Fell’s  store.  In  consequence  of  which,  the  course  of 
the  eastern  road,  instead  of  passing  through  French 
street  was  directed  into  these  streets  by  Bridge  street, 
even  before  the  bridge  was  built.  The  conditions  of 
settlement  were  similar  to  those  of  Baltimore  town,  ex- 
cept that  the  possessors  of  lots  in  this  town,  vrere  to  pay 
the  proprietary  one  penny  sterling  per  lot,  annually. 

It  is  stated  that  there  were  60,000  hogsheads  of  To- 
bacco exported  annually  from  the  two  colonies  of  Vir- 
ginia and  Maryland,  besides  21,000Z.  sterling  worth  of 
lumber  and  skins,  employing  24,000  tons  of  shipping, 
the  two  colonies  being  nearly  equal  in  white  population 
and  wealth  at  that  time.  But  great  depression  was  expe- 
rienced throughout  the  province,  and  the  low  price  of 
the  staple  caused  an  insurrection  and  the  destruction 
of  many  fields  of  plants. 

However,  the  creation  in  1733,  of  bills  of  credit  as 
a substitute  for  a currency,  as  other  colonies  had  done 
already,  appears  to  have  produced  a change  for  the  bet- 
ter, and  improvements  were  soon  made  on  the  east  side 


* \ 

04  ANTALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1732 

of  the  falls,  by  which,  and  from  the  early  settlement  of 
Cole,  Gorsuch  or  Jones,  it  obtained  the  name  Old  town. 

The  communication  with  the  first  town  being  obstruct- 
ed by  the  passage  of  the  falls  was  so  inconvenient  by  the 
ford,  a bridge  was  soon  erected  where  Gay  street  Bridge 
now  is,  by  the  respective  inhabitants  of  the  towns.  Ed- 
ward Hall,  Esq.  was  presiding  justice  in  1732,  and 
sheriff*  in  1734,  when  colonel  William  Hamilton  w'as 
presiding  justice.  In  this  year,  a town  was  laid  out  at 
Elkridge  Landing,  from  which  produce  was  brought  to 
the  ships  laying  off*  Moales’ point  for  many  years  after. 

It  would  seem  however,  from  the  patent  to  Mr.  Car- 
roll  of  the  tract  called  Orange,  now  granted,  that  ex- 
cept on  the  river  side  or  the  soil  was  very  good,  there 
yet  remained  much  vacant  land  even  near  town. 

In  1735,  masters  of  vessels  and  others  were  prohibit- 
ed under  a severe  penalty,  from  casting  ballast  into  any 
creek  or  river  emptying  into  the  bays,  and  into  the  bay 
itself,  above  Cedar  'point . 

Messrs.  Hanson  and  W alker  having  procured  a 
leasehold  estate,  by  virtue  of  the  law  for  appropriating 
mill  seats  by  valuation,  in  addition  to  the  fee  simple  ob- 
tained of  Mr.  Carroll  by  the  former,  sold  both  in  1740, 
to  Mr.  Edward  Fotterall,  a gentleman  from  Ireland,  who 
imported  the  materials  and  erected  the  first  brick  house, 
free  stone  corners,  and  the  first  which  was  two 
stories  without  a hip-roof,  in  the  town.  It  stood  near 
the  north  west  intersection  of  Calvert  and  Chatham 
streets.  Mr.  Fotterall  returned  to  Ireland,  where  he  died, 
and  the  next  year  his  administrators  sold  the  mill  pro 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


25 


17&5.] 

perty  to  Mr.  William  Fell,  who  had  just  purchased  of 
Mr.  William  Carter  that  tract  on  the  point,  adjacent 
to  Copus’s  harbour,  called  Carter’s  Delight. 

In  17S6,  John  Stokes  Esq.  clerk  of  the  county, 
died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Humphrey  W. 
Stokes  Esq.  Colonel  William  Hammond  was  sheriff, 
and  Richard  Gist  Esq.  presiding  Justice. 

In  1738,  colonel  Nicholas  Ridgely  was  sheriff. 
Mr.  Edward  Fell  died,  leaving  a daughter  or  daugh- 
ters in  England,  but  bestowed  his  property  here  on  his 
brother’s  son  Edward. 

In  1740,  Mr.  John  Moale  died,  bequeathing  his 
lands  near  Baltimore  to  his  two  surviving  sons 
John  and  Richard.  In  1741,  Thomas  Brereton  Esq. 
was  clerk  of  the  county. 

It  appeared  to  the  inhabitants  of  Cecil  county  that  a 
place  called  Long  point , on  the  west  side  of  North 
East  river,  would  be  an  eligible  situation  for  trade,  and 
in  174 2 they  procured  an  Act  to  lay  out  the  town  called 
Charlestown,  with  very  suitable  regulations,  including 
a public  wharf,  warehouse  and  inspection  of  Flour, 

! which  apparently,  was  brought  to  the  neighbourhood 
I already  from  the  counties  of  Chester  and  Lancaster 
in  Pennsylvania.  But  the  efforts  of  the  founder  of  that 
Province,  who  travelled  as  a preacher  among  the  Qua- 
kers on  the  continent  of  Europe  as  well  as  through 
the  British  Isles,  to  give  celebrity  to  his  establishment. 

4 


26 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1742.  ; 

and  which  procured  a great  influx  of  Irish  and  Ger- 
mans there,  did  not  prevent  them  w7ben  arrived,  from 
discovering  the  advantages  presented  in  other  provinces,  j 
and  a great  many  who  landed  on  the  Delaware,  passed  J 
the  southern  boundary  and  settled  in  Maryland,  by  j 
which  the  scite  of  Baltimore  became  more  eligible  than  • 
Charlestown,  and  the  latter  was  soon  deserted.  In  the  i 
same  year  Mr.  Thomas  Harrison,  merchant,  arrived  » 
from  England,  and  built  a house  near  the  north  east  ! 
corner  of  South  and  W ater  streets,  buying  the  lots  | 
nearest  the  water  on  each  side  of  South  street. 

St.  Thomas’s  parish  was  taken  from  St.  Paul’s  and  the 
new  parish  Church  of  that  name,  was  erected  about  ten  | 
miles  north  west  of  the  town  on  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  | 
Benedict  Bourdillon,  who  was  succeeded  in  St.  Paul’s 
by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Chase.  Major  Thomas  Sheredine 
was  presiding  Justice,  and  John  Ridgely  Esq.  sheriff. 

In  1744,  a new  town  by  the  name  of  Baltimore  was 
laid  out  upon  Indian  river,  which  empties  into  the  At- 
lantic, and  was  then  in  Worcester  county,  now  in  Susr 
sex  in  Delaware ; but  with  still  less  success  than  the 
others  at  Elkridge  or  Charlestown.  The  name  however 
is  still  retained  by  one  of  the  Hundreds  of  Sussex 
county  in  which  the  intended  tow  n wras  located. 

In  1745,  the  two  towns  of  Baltimore  and  Jones-1 
town,  were  erected  into  one  town  by  the  name  of  Bal- 
timore town,  and  major  Thomas  Sheredine,  doctor  G.  | 
Buchanan,  captain  Robert  North,  colonel  William,! 
Hammond,  captain  Darby  Lux  and  Messrs.  Thomas* 


1745.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  27 

Harrison  and  William  Fell  appointed  commissioners 
the  two  first  being  then  delegates,  with  John  Paca  and 
John  Hall  Esqrs.  Captain  Lux  commanded  a ship  in 
the  London  trade  as  early  as  1733,  and  in  1743,  pur- 
chased the  lots  number  43  and  44  on  the  west  side  of 
Light  street  where  he  resided  and  transacted  much  bu- 
siness. Mr.  William  Lux,  his  son,  was  appointed  clerk 
to  the  commissioners  in  the  place  of  doctor  Walker, 
who  died  in  the  last  mentioned  year. 

The  property  of  wharves,  houses  or  other  buildings, 
m$de  or  to  be  made  out  of  the  water , or  where  it  usu- 
ally flows  is  secured  to  the  improvers  by  this  act. 
The  commissioners  were  authorised  to  levy  three  pounds 
for  the  clerk  but  had  no  compensation  themselves. 

It  was  now  thought  necessary  as  is  usual  in  Village 
isettlements,  to  proscribe  the  geese  and  swine  from  run- 
ning at  large..  At  the  same  session,  a law  was  passed 
providing  for  the  guage  of  barrels  for  pork,  beef,  tar, 
pitch  and  turpentine,  the  weight  of  pork  and  beef  in 
barrels  and  the  marking  of  tare  on  flour  barrels. 

Mr. Wm.  Fell  dying  in  1746,  was  succeeded  by  Mr. 
Alexander  Lawson  as  one  of  the  commissioners. 

The  communication  by  the  Bridge,  which  brought 
the  great  eastern  road  from  the  Ford  directly  through 
both  parts  of  the  Town  gave  value  to  the  intermediate 
[grounds,  and  the  whole  land  and  marsh  containing  twenty 
[eight  acres  in  all,  was  purchased  of  Mr.  Carroll  by  Mr. 
Harrison  in  1747  for  1 60/ sterling,  and  at  the  ensuing 
session  an  act  of  assembly  was  passed  by  which  Gay 
and  Frederick  and  part  of  Water  and  Second  streets 


28 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1747. 

were  laid  off,  with  eighteen  acres  of  ground.  This  addi- 
tion, principally  on  the  west  side  of  the  falls,  contained 
all  the  fast  land  between  the  eastern  limit  of  the  first 
town  and  the  falls.  Takers  up  of  lots  were  to  agree 
with  and  pay  the  owners  of  the  grounds,  as  for  the 
former  addition. 

The  commissioners  were  authorised  to  open  and 
widen  streets  or  alleys  with  the  consent  of  the  propri- 
etors, and  remove  nuisances,  and  also  to  hold  two  an- 
nual fairs,  the  first  Thursday  of  May  and  October,  with 
privileges  from  civil  process  during  the  fairs.  House 
keepers  were  subject  to  a fine  of  10s.  if  they  did  not 
%keep  ladders  for  extinguishment  of  fires,  or  if  their 
chimnies  blazed  out  at  top . But,  lest  the  corporate  pow- 
ers granted  under  this  or  former  laws  should  be  miscon- 
strued to  increase  the  privileges  of  the  citizens,  dimin-  * 
ish  the  authority  of  the  provincial  government  or  in- 
fluence improperly  the  legislature,  it  was  cautiously, 
“provided  nevertheless,  that  this  act  nor  any  thing  herein 
contained,  shall  extend  or  be  construed  to  extend,  to  ena- 
ble or  capacitate  the  said  commissioners  or  inhabitants 
of  the  said  town,  to  elect  or  choose  delegates,  or  bur- 
gesses to  set  in  the  General  Assembly  of  this  prov- 
ince as  representatives  of  said  town.”  How  different 
have  the  fortunes  of  Baltimore  been  in  this  respect, 
from  that  of  all  the  other  great  cities  of  this  continent. 
They  were  not  only  represented  in  the  legislatures  of 
the  different  provinces  or  colonies,  but,  being  seats  of 
government,  were  provided  with  well  digested  and  suit' 
able  laws,  from  the  personal  attendance  and  knowledge 
of  whole  assemblies;  and,  whilst  the  proceeds  of  taxes 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


20 


1747.] 

drawn  to  the  treasuries  within  them,  went  into  circula- 
tion again  through  the  inhabitants,  those  contributed  by 
the  Baltimorians  go  directly  from  them,  and  never  re- 
turn but  partially  to  their  hands  again. 

In  1748  Messrs.  Leonard  and  Daniel  Barnetz,  from 
York  in  Pensylvania,  erected  a brewery  on  the  south 
wTest  corner  of  Baltimore  and  Hanover  streets,  lately 
replaced  by  stores.  These  gentlemen,  if  not  the 
first  were  among  the  first  of  the  Germans,  or  the  decen- 
dants  of  Germans,  whose  successive  emigration  from 
that  province,  with  capital  and  industry  employed  here, 
contributed  so  essentially  to  aid  the  original  settlers — 
the  arrival  of  whom  or  of  their  ancesors,  it  has  not 
been  thought  necessary  to  mention  in  all  cases. 

Captain  Darby  Lux  was  elected  a delegate  in  the 
place  of  Col.  Hall.  Talbot  Risteau  Esq.  was  clerk  of 
the  county  at  this  time. 

Messrs.  Thomas  Sheredine  and  Thomas  Sleigh  had 
bought  of  Mr.  Hurst  the  year  before,  and  in  1750  of 
Richard  Colegates’ sons,  John  and  Thomas,  their  sev- 
eral rights  to  the  residue  of  Cole’s  harbour  and  Moun- 
tenay’s  neck  east  of  the  Falls,  when  High  street  from 
Plowman  street  to  French  street,  with  lots  on  each 
side  including  eighteen  acres  of  ground,  are  added  to 
to  the  town.  A Tobacco  inspection  house  was  erected 
on  the  west  side  of  Charles  street  and  near  the  head  of 
the  inlet  into  which  Uhler’s  spring  emptied;  and  a pub- 
lic wharf  commenced  at  the  south  end  of  Calvert  street,  a 
long  time  called  “the  County  wharf;”  Messrs.  Lawson. 


30 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1 750, 

Hammond  and  Lux,  three  of  the  commissioners,  entered 
notices  of  their  intention  to  improve  into  the  water, 
and  did  actually  erect  houses  on  the  bank  near  the 
shore,  the  first  of  wood,  on  the  east,  and  the  last  of  brick, 
on  the  west  side  of  Light  street,  near  the  west  end  of 
Bank  street,  and  the  other  further  east,  near  South  street. 

All  this  part  of  the  town  was  now  closed  by  a 
fence,  having  a gateway  for  carriages  on  the  north  end 
of  Gay  street,  and  another  at  the  west  end  of  Baltimore 
street,  with  one  smaller  for  foot  passengers  upon  the 
hill  near  the  church  and  towards  the  old  road.  For  the 
purpose  of  making  this  enclosure  there  was  a general 
subscription  and  it  was  kept  in  repair  by  the  same 
means  three  or  four  years. — The  fence  it  seems  became 
a prey  to  the  wants  of  needy  inhabitants,  and  Lloyd 
Buchanan  Esq.  was  employed  to  prosecute  some  of 
them  but  found  the  commissioners  not  clothed  with 
sufficient  legal  authority,  and  their  inclosure  was  discon- 
tinued. In  1750  doctor  Buchanan  died  leaving  besides 
the  above  son  Lloyd,  Archibald  who  was  a merchant,  An- 
drew, George  and  William,  noticed  hereafter.  The  doctor 
was  succeeded  in  the  board  of  commissioners  by  Mr. 
Brian  Philpot,  an  english  merchant  then  lately  arrived, 
and  in  the  assembly,  by  William  Smith  Esq.  of  the 
north  part  of  the  county.  Thomas  Franklin  Esq.  was 
presiding  Justice,  and  so  continued  more  than  twenty 
years,  during  which  time  the  following  gentlemen  were 
appointed  to  the  office  of  sheriff,  viz.  Messrs.  Roger 
Boyce  in  1750;  William  Young  1754;  Charles  Christie 
175G;  Aquilla  Hall  1761 ; Robert  Adair  1765;  Daniel 
Chamier  1768  and  John  R.  Holliday  1770. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE 


31 


1751] 

There  were  other  lists  of  subscription  besides  the 
following  no  doubt,  but  the  object  of  it  was  not  effected 
until  ten  years  after.  It  is  also  probable  that  this 
was  induced  by  the  opposing  interest  and  influence  of*7 
the  settlers  on  the  two  sides  of  the  falls.  The  preamble 
and  copy  annexed,  shows  how  anxious  the  first  settlers 
continued  to  be  to  improve  the  town — 44 Whereas,  seve- 
ral acts  of  Assembly  have  been  made  for  the  enlargement 
and  encouragement  of  Baltimore  town,  and  foras- 
much as  the  said  town  increases  as  well  in  inhabitants 
as  good  buildings  and  trade,  and  the  situation  thereof 
renders  it  convenient  for  navigation*  and  trade,  as  well 
with  the  inhabitants  of  Baltimore  and  Anne  Arundel 
counties  as  the  back  settlements  of  this  province  and 
Pennsylvania,  but  no  provision  hath  yet  been  made 
by  law  or  otherways  for  purchasing  a lot  or  lots  where- 
on to  build  a market  house,  town  house  and  other 
necessary  buildings  for  the  benefit  of  said  town,  and 
eonveniency  of  such  persons  as  bring  their  butcher’s 
meat  and  other  commodities  to  sell  at  market  in  said 
town.  Wherefore, for  the  further  encouragement  and  im- 
provement of  Baltimore  town,  we  whose  names  are  here- 
unto subscribed,  do  hereby  promise  and  oblige  ourselves, 
our  executors  and  administrators,  to  pay  to  the  commis- 
sioners of  Baltimore  town,  or  their  order,  the  several 
sum  or  sums  of  money  to  each  of  our  names  affixed,  to 
be  applied  to  the  purchasing  a lot  or  lots  in  said  town 
and  building  thereon  a market  house  and  town  hall, 
in  such  manner  as  the  commissioners  of  said  town  shall 
direct  and  appoint,  provided  the  said  lot  or  lots  shall  be 
purchased  and  building  began  within  two  years  from  the 


$2  ANNALS  OF 

BALTIMORE. 

[1751. 

date  hereof,  witness 

our  hands  aud  seals  this 

twenty 

third  day  of  April 

1751.” 

Subscription 

Thomas  Sheredine 

19/. 

cur. 

Wm.  Hammond 

51. 

cur. 

Thomas  Harrison 

15 

cur. 

Alex.  Lawson 

10 

cur. 

Brian  Philpot 

10 

stg. 

Wm.  Rogers 

10 

stg. 

Wm.  Lyon 

5 

stg. 

Thos.  Sleigh 

10 

stg. 

Thomas  Chase 

5 

cur. 

John  Randall 

5 

stg. 

Lloyd  Buchanan 

5 

cur. 

Wm.  Lux 

5 

stg. 

N.  R.  Gay 

5 

cur. 

Captain  Thomas  Franklin  and  John  Mathews,  Esq. 
were  elected  delegates  in  the  place  of  Messrs.  Lux  and 
Sheredine,  and  in  November,  William  Govane,  Thomas 
Franklin,  L.  Buchanan  Esqrs.  and  Major  Charles  Ridg- 
ley  were  elected,  but  the  return  was  defective  and  they 
were  re-elected  in  March  following. 

In  1752,  John  Moale,  Esq.  son  of  the  former  gentle- 
man of  that  name,  sketched  a plan  or  view  of  the  town, 
which,  after  corrections  by  Daniel  Bowley,  Esq.  was 
published  a few  years  ago  by  Mr.  Edward  J.  Coale,  and 
exhibits  the  then  state  of  improvements  west  of  the  falls. 
Including  the  buildings  already  noticed, it  appears  there 
were  about  25  houses,  four  of  which  were  of  brick;  and 
the  only  one  of  these  now  standing,  built  and  occupied  by 
Mr.  William  Payne,  as  a tavern,  is  on  the  north  west  cor. 
nerof  Calvert  and  Bank  streets, but  the  first  one  erected 
was  that  of  Mr.  Edward  Fotterall,  between  Calvert 
street  and  St.  Pauls  lane.  It  was  pulled  down  after 
being  with  the  rest  of  his  property  confiscated  and  sold, 
because  he  had  returned  to  Ireland,  where  his  heirs  re- 
sided at  the  time  of  the  revolution. 

It  also  appears  that  one  brig,  called  the  Philip  and 
Charles,  belonging  to  Mr.  N.  Rogers,  and  one  sloop,  the 


17 52*]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  $f} 

Baltimore,  Mr.  Lux’s  property,  and  represented  in  the 
sketch,  were  the  only  sea  vessels  owned  in  the  town ; but 
there  must  have  been  several  vessels  owned  on  the  river 
and  neighborhood,  for  it  is  stated  that  in  the  month  ot 
October,  there  were  upwards  of  60  wagons  loaded  with 
Flax  Seed  came  to  town.  Mr.  William  Rogers  kept 
an  inn  in  the  house  represented  in  the  view , near  the 
north  east  corner  of  Baltimore  and  Calvert  streets  and 
Mr.  James  Gardner,  a school  near  the  intersection  of 
South  and  Water  streets.  In  the  same  year,  thirty 
two  acres  of  Coles’  harbour,  which  Mr.  Joshua  Hall 
had  purchased  of  Mr.  Carroll,  were  added  to  the  town, 
being  part  of  that  tract  which  lay  between  the  town  and 
the  lines  of  Lunn’s  lot  at  the  south,  west  and  north  of  the 
first  town ; commencing  at  the  same  point  on  the  river, 
and  including  the  grounds  between  McClellan’s  alley 
and  Forest  lane  ran  to  the  falls  side,  north  of  the  church 
and  city  spring,  where  Mr.  John  Frazier  rented  a 
shipyard  and  resided.  Special  penalties  were  enacted 
against  obstructing  the  harbor  or  throwing  earth,  sand 
or  dirt  into  the  river  at  this  period. 

In  the  Maryland  Gazette  of  27th  February  1752,  is 
inserted  an  advertisement  for  a schoolmaster  “of  a good 
sober  character,  who  understands  teaching  English,  wri- 
ting and  arithmetic,”  and  who,  it  is  added,  “will  meet 
with  very  good  encouragement  from  the  inhabitants  of 
Baltimore  town,  if  well  recommended.” 

In  the  Gentlemen’s  Magazine  for  1753,  the  popula- 
tion of  the  county  the  preceding  year,  still  including 
Harford,  is  stated  to  consist  of 


34  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 

[1752 

2692  White  men, 
3115  boys, 

2587  White  women,  ) 

2951  girls,  $ 

11,345 

595  men  servants, 

200  women  servants,  ) 

970 

126  boys,  do. 

49  girls,  do.  $ 

472  men  convicts, 

87  women  convicts,  ) 

571. 

G boys  do. 

6 girls,  do.  $ 

Mulattoe  slaves  116,  free  196, 

312 

Negroes,  including 

eight  free, 

4035 

Total, 

17,238 

In  the  same  year  1753  a Lottery  is  advertised  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  450  pieces  of  eight , or  dollars,  towards 
building  a public  wharf,  of  which  lottery  Messrs.  John 
Stevenson, Richard  Chase,  John  Moale,  Charles  Croxall, 
William  Rogers,  Nicholas  Rogers,  John  Ridgely,  N.  R. 
Gay,  William  Lux  and  Brian  Philpot  were  managers. 

Mr.  George  N.  Myers,  a Pennsylvania  German 
moved  to  Baltimore  and  another,  Mr.  Valentine 
Larsh  built  an  Inn  at  the  south  west  corner  of  Balti- 
more and  Gay  streets,  and  Mr.  Andrew  Steiger,  butcher, 
who  first  bought  of  Mr.  L.  Goodwin,  the  south  w'est 
corner  of  Baltimore  and  Charles  streets.  Mr.  Steiger 
afterwards,  that  is  in  1756,  procured  the  lot  at  the 
north  east  corner  of  Gay  and  Baltimore  streets,  but  on 
the  gable  end  of  the  house  are  fixed  the  figures  1741 
still  there,  being  four  years  anterior  to  the  laying  out  of 
that  part  of  the  town,  and  fifteen  years  before  the  lot 
was  deeded  to  him,  and  in  1759,  he  purchased  of  Dr. 
William  Lyon,  drained  and  cleared  the  wooded 
marsh  in  the  bend  of  the  falls  and  then  on  the  east  side 
of  the  stream,  for  pasturage  for  his  cattle. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE, 


3 5 


1753.] 

In  the  meantime  1754,  Mr.  Moale  built  the  brick 
store,  south  east  corner  Calvert  street  and  Lovely  lane, 
and  the  dwelling  now  standing  in  the  rear  of  St. 
Peters  church.  The  same  year  the  buildings  at  the 
mount  were  erected  by  Charles  Carroll  Esq.  barrister, 
of  which  the  brick  was  imported, 

Mr.  Sheredine  dying  was  succeeded  by  Lloyd  Buc- 
hanan Esq.  and  the  same  year  Mr.  Nicholas  Ruxton 
Gay,  who  was  surveyor,  succeeded  Col.  Hammond, 
who  had  been  one  of  the  first  commissioners  of  the 
town. 

Mr.  John  Sly  came  to  settle  in  Baltimore  and  erected 
a house  on  the  north  side  of  south  Gay  street,  and  Mr. 
Conrad  Smith  another  on  the  opposite  side;  and  three 
years  after  Mr.  Jacob  Keeports  another  one  adjoining; 
in  the  mean  time,  Frederick  and  Peter  Myers  arrived. 

John  Paca,  Wm.  Govane,  Lloyd  Buchanan  and  Wal- 
ter Tolley  Esqrs.  are  elected  delegates,  but  Mr.  Buchan- 
an being  appointed  prosecutor,  is  succeeded  by  Wm. 
Smith  Esq.  Beale  Bordley  Esq.  is  clerk  of  the  county. 

The  savages,  after  Braddocks  defeat  by  the  French 
and  Indians  in  1755,  had  passed  the  forts  Cumberland 
and  Frederick  and  got  within  eighty  or  ninety  miles  of 
the  town,  in  parties  of  plunder  and  murder.  Although 
the  French  abandoned  fort  Du  Quesne  on  the  Ohio 
1758,  the  xountry  this  side  of  that  river  was  but 
partially  relieved.  There  is  no  doubt  the  growth  of 
Baltimore  was  promoted  by  the  continuation  of  the 
w ar,  preventing  the  extension  of  the  settlements  wres- 
terly,  for  within  a year  after  peace  the  towrn  had  ccr- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


36 


[1755 


tainly  become  the  greatest  mart  of  trade  in  the  prov-* 
ince,  if  not  before  the  war  began. 


Many  of  the  French  neutrals  forcibly  deprived  of 
their  property  and  expelled,  took  refuge  here  from 
Acadia  or  Nova  Scotia  in  1756,  the  place  being  taken 
by  the  British.  Some  of  them  vrere  received  in  private 
houses,  others  quartered  in  Mr.  Fotterall’s  deserted 
house,  in  which  they  erected  a temporary  chapel.  For 
although  the  province  had  been  a refuge  for  perse- 
cuted catholics  in  particular,  they  were  surpassed  in 
number  by  Protestants  before  any  settlement  was  made 
in  this  county,  and  they  had  no  place  of  worship  in  it 
as  yet.  At  first  assisted  by  public  levies  authorised  by 
law,  these  emigrants  soon  found  means  by  their  extraor- 
dinary industry  and  frugality,  to  get  much  of  the 
grounds  on  south  Charles  street,  erecting  many  cabins 
or  huts  of  mud  and  mortar,  which  part  was  long  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  French  town.  By  the  same 
means  they  or  their  children  converted  their  huts  into 
good  frame  or  brick  buildings,  mostly  by  their  own 
hands,  and  there  are  yet  some  of  the  original  French 
settlers  living  there  at  the  age  of  eighty  five  years  and 
upwards.  Among  these  French  neutrals  Messrs.  Gut- 
tro,  Gould,  Dashiel,  Blanc  (White)  and  Berbine, 
who  had  suffered  least  perhaps,  attached  themselves 
mostly  to  navigation  and  the  infirm  picked  Oak- 
um. Several  houses  erected  on  the  west  side  of  the 
street,  from  timber  cut  on  the  lots  by  themselves,  and 
yet  standing,  were  occupied  by  some  of  them  more  than 
sixty  years. 


1756.] 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


37 


On  the  other  hand  the  defenceless  inhabitants  Were 
greatly  alarmed  lest  the  Indians  should  reach  the  town ; 
and  we  learn  from  the  respectable  relict  of  Mr.  Moale, 
who  was  a daughter  of  the  late  captain  North  and  the 
oldest  native  of  the  place  now  living,  that  the  women  and 
children  were  put  on  board  of  boats  or  vessels  in  the  har- 
bour to  be  rescued  by  flight  down  the  bay  if  necessary, 
while  the  inhabitants  of  the  adjacent  country  were  fly- 
ing to  town  for  safety. 

At  the  general  election  in  September  1757  Mr. 
William  Govane,  captain  Thomas  C.  Deye,  doctor  Sam- 
uel O wings  and  captain  John  H.  Dorsey  were  chosen 
delegates,  and  again  in  1758. 

In  1758  Mr.  Jacob  Myers  took  the  south  east  corner 
of  Gay  and  Baltimore  streets  and  built  an  inn.  At  this 
period  there  also  arrived  and  settled  on  lots  north  of 
Baltimore  street,  Messrs.  Levely,  Conrad  and  Grand- 
chut  the  last  of  whom  erected  a brewery  on  north 
Frederick  street.  Mr.  Daniel  Barnet  and  others  who 
were  German  Lutherians,  bought  the  lot  and  erect  a 
small  church  on  Fish  street. 

In  1759  Messrs  John  Smith  and  William  Buchanan, 
from  Carlisle,  the  first  a native  of  Strabane  in  Ireland, 
and  the  last  of  Lancaster  county  in  Pennsylvania,  pur- 
chased of  Mr.  Harrison  after  having  been  refused  wa- 
ter lots  on  terms  which  they  would  accept,  by  Messrs. 
Moale  and  Fell,  the  lot  fronting  on  Gay  and  Wa- 
ter streets;  building,  besides  the  dwelling  houses  still 


38 


annals  OP  BALTIMORE. 


[1759. 

there,  two  wharves  of  pine  cord  wood  about  one  thou- 
sand feet  long  each,  to  the  channel  of  the  river.  Mr.  Jo- 
nathan Plowman,  an  English  merchant  lately  arrived, 
bought  several  acres  of  ground  of  Mr.  Sligh,  adjoining 
the  last  addition  east  of  the  falls,  and  built  at  the  north 
east  corner  of  York  now  Baltimore  and  High  streets. 

In  1760  Mr.  Philpot  purchased  of  Mr.  Sligh,  most 
of  the  peninsula  between  the  falls  and  Harford  run, 
and  built  the  house  at  the  north  east  corner  of  Balti- 
more street  bridge,  which  caused  the  bridge  afterwards 
built  to  be  known  by  that  name. 

The  same  year,  Messrs.  Larsh,  Steiger,  Keeports 
and  others,  who  were  German  or  Dutch  Presbyterians, 
bought  the  ground  north  of  the  church  of  Mr.  Carroll, 
and  built  a small  place  of  worship  for  that  religious  so*- 
ciety,  of  which  Mr.  Faber  was  first  minister. 

In  1761,  Messrs.  William  Smith  and  James  Sterrett 
moved  from  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  and  improved  the 
first  in  Calvert  street,  and  the  latter  at  the  north  west 
corner  of  Gay  and  Water  streets,  where  he  erected  a 
brewery,  which  was  burned  and  rebuilt  and  burned 
again  soon  after  the  revolution . 

Mr.  Mark  Alexander,  from  Cecil  county,  purchases 
part  of  the  original  lot  number  one,  on  the  north  side  of 
Baltimore  street,  and  afterwards  the  water  lot  west  side 
Calvert  street,  and  erects  extensive  buildings  at  both 
places  as  well  as  the  house  south  west  corner  of 
Charles  and  north  west,  now  Saratoga  street. 

Mr.  Melchor  Keener,  a German  arrived  from  Penn 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


39 


1761] 

sylvania,  and  two  years  after  erected  the  house  in  North 
Gay  street  which  bears  his  initials  with  the  date  in  a 
niche  of  the  front,  for  an  inn;  building  a wharf  and 
warehouse  on  the  grounds  added  to  the  town  by  Mr. 
Howard,  below  Hanover  street,  afterwards.  In  the 
mean  time  Mr.  S teiger  erected  the  dwelling  next  to  the 
corner  of  Baltimore  street  and  Mr.  Lytle  took  the  corj 
ner  house  for  an  Inn,  and  Mr.  Amos  Fogg  rented  the 
White  Horse  Inn,  south  east  corner  of  Front  and  Low 
streets.  John  Paca,  Thomas  C.  Deye,  John  H.  Dor- 
sey and  Corbin  Lee  Esqrs.  are  elected  delegates. 

From  Mr.  Edward  Fell  of  William,  who  held  a com- 
mission in  the  provincial  army,  the  mill  property  was 
purchased  by  Mr.  William  Moore,  who  came  from  Ire- 
land and  first  settled  at  Brandywine  mills,  but  removed 
to  Baltimore  in  1762. 

The  next  year  Mr.  Moore  sold  the  upper  mill  seat  to 
Messrs.  Joseph  Ellicott  and  John  and  Hugh  Burgess, 
from  Bucks  county  Pennsylvania,  who  built  the  mill 
opposite  the  present  jail.  Mr.  Ellicott  sold  his  interest 
to  Burgess  and  went  away,  but  returned  with  his  broth- 
ers John  and  Andrew,  purchased  the  lands  and  erected 
the  mills  on  Patapsco  ten  years  after. 

The  Canadian  war  having  terminated  in  1763, 
Messrs.  Plowman  and  Philpot  laid  out  some  grounds 
between  the  falls  and  Harford  run,  into  streets  running 
north  west  to  south  east  and  nearly  parallel  with  the 
former  stream,  with  other  streets  at  right  angles  with 
them;  and  Mr.  Fell  laid  off  part  of  the  tracts  of  land 
on  the  east  and  which  his  father  had  purchased  of  Har- 


40  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE*  [1763 

ris,  Cartel'  and  others,  buying  of  Sligh  himself  part  of 
Mountenay’s  neck  and  all  two  years  before  resurveyed 
and  patented  by  the  name  of  Fell’s  prospect;  with 
streets  north  and  south  and  east  and  west,  except  on  the 
extreme  point  itself,  where  he  was  governed  by  the 
course  of  the  river;  which  locations  were  confirmed, 
and  the  same  added  to  the  town  by  act  of  Assembly  ten 
years  after.  The  duties  on  negroes  and  Irish  ser- 
vants not  protestants,  imported  by  foreigners , were  at 
twenty  shillings  sterling  and  twenty  shillings  currency 
more  on  all  accounts,  to  both  were  added  in  1763,  forty 
shillings  currency.  On  all  kinds  of  liquors  except  from 
England  the  duty  was  three  pence  per  gallon ; on  Pork 
six  pence  per  hundred  weight,  or  one  shilling  and  six 
pence  per  barrel;  Pitch  one  shilling;  Tar  six  pence; 
on  dried  Beef  or  Bacon  exported  the  duty  was  one 
shilling  per  hundred  weight;  and  on  pickled  Pork  and 
Beef  one  shilling  per  barrel  of  two  hundred  weight; 
part  of  which  with  one  shilling  per  hogshead  on  Tobac- 
co exported,  was  appropriated  to  the  general  ex- 
penses of  the  province  and  part  to  the  free  schools; 
to  the  proprietary  one  shilling  sterling  per  hogshead, 
with  half  a pound  of  powder  and  three  pounds  of  shot, 
or  the  value,  on  every  ton  of  foreign  shipping  entered ; 
three  pence  per  hhd.  to  the  governor,  and  the  duty  of  five 
per  cent  or  tonnage  and  poundage  upon  all  imports,  to  the 
crown.  The  navigation  act  of  Great  Britain  confined 
all  the  trade  to  British  and  colonial  merchants  and  ships* 
and  intercourse  with  her  dominions  of  Europe  only 
was  allowed  for  Tobacco,  no  other  trade  but  to  her  do- 
minions and  the  south  of  Europe.  Restricted  thus  by 


ANXALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


41 


1763.] 

a government  in  which  they  had  no  share,  the  Americans 
contemned  their  revenue  laws,  and  whilst  they  were 
enforced  by  the  civil  authority  only  as  they  still  were 
wealth  was  increased  and  few  complaints  were  made 
even  by  the  merchants,  on  whom  all  such  exactions  fall 
in  the  first  instance . 

Some  time  before  Doctors  John  and  Henry  Steven- 
son arrived  from  Ireland,  the  former  conducts  an  exten- 
sive trade  with  that  and  other  countries,  and  the  latter 
entered  into  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  commences 
the  stone  house  rough  cast  near  the  York  road 

In  the  same  year,  1763,  Messrs.  John  Brow  n,  Ben- 
jamin Griffith  and  Samuel  Purviance  settled  in  Balti- 
more; the  former  from  Jersey,  having  learned  his  trade 
in  Wilmington,  erected  a pottery  on  the  east  side  of 
Bridge,  now  Gay  street,  and  the  latter,  who  came  from 
Donegal  by  way  of  Philadelphia,  erected  a distillery  on 
the  south  east  corner  of  Water  and  Commerce  streets 
with  a wharf;  Mr.  Griffith  who  came  from  New  Castle 
county,  having  purchased  Fell’s  lot  adjoining  the  bridge, 
rebuilt  it  by  contract  and  thence  it  was,  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  others  when  afterwards  built,  called  by  his 
name. 

A new  Tobacco  inspection  house  was  erected  on 
Mr  . Harrison’s  grounds,  near  what  is  now  the  south 
vest  intersection  of  Water  and  South  streets,  and  a 
Powder  magazine  on  the  falls  side,  under  the  hill, 
lear  the  north  east  corner  of  Washington  Square 
streets;  Messrs.  William  Lyon,  Nicholas  R.  Gay,  John 
Moale  and  Archibald  Buchanan,  a majority  of  the 

6 


42 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1763. 

town  commissioners,  took  the  corner  lot  on  the  north 
of  Baltimore  street  and  west  of  Gay  street  on  leash 
of  Mr.  Harrison,  at  eight/,  sterling  per  annum,  for  a 
market  house,  which  was  built  by  the  subscription  of 
the  citizens  principally. 

The  justices  of  the  peace  whose  jurisdiction 
out  of  court,  in  relation  to  small  debts,  had  been  first 
limited  to  the  sum  of  sixteen  shillings  and  eight  pence 
was  extended  to  fifty  shillings  and  some  chancery  juris- 
diction was  extended  to  the  county  courts. 

In  1764  Mr.  William  Spear,  who  came  from  Lancas- 
ter, took  the  water  lot  near  Gay  street  and  wharfing  out 
about  a 1000  feet  to  a small  Island,  erected  a bakery 
there.  Mr.  Robert  Long,  who,  it  is  said  had  persuad- 
ed Mr.  Fell  to  lay  off’  that  part  of  the  town,  commenced 
some  improvements  at  the  corner  of  Ann  and  Thames 
streets,  moved  to  the  country  and  left  his  buildings  un- 
finished; some  lots  were  also  conveyed  to  Mr.  John 
Bond  by  Mr.  Fell,  but  sold  out  by  him.  James  Heath 
Esq.  was  elected  one  of  the  delegates  in  the  place  of 
M.  Dorsey. 

1 

In  1765,  captain  Charles  Ridgely  and  Mr.  Griffith 
purchased  water  lots  of  Mr.  Fell,  west  of  the  public 
wharf;  the  latter  building  a wharf  and  warehouse,  which 
was  the  first  there;  and  Mr.  Benjamin  Nelson,  ship- 
wrright,  who  had  moved  from  Charlestown,  Cecil  county, 
established  a ship  yard  in  Philpot  street;,  three  years 
after  Mr.  Isaac  Griest,  also  from  Cecil,  took  the  water 
lot  east  of  the  public  wharf.  The  ensuing  year  captaiq 


1751 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


43 


George  Patton,  who  came  from  Ireland,  erected  the 
wharf  on  the  west  end  of  the  point,  and  three  years  af- 
ter, Mr.  Jesse  Hollingsworth  another  on  the  east.  The 
remainder  of  the  water  lots  being  chiefly  taken  and  im- 
proved in  the  mean  time,  by  Messrs.  Purviance,  Wells, 
Smith,  Mackie  and  Yanbibber,  the  point  containing 
all  the  artisans  and  articles  requisite  for  building  and 
fitting  vessels,  wTas  already  a rival  of  the  town. 

Mr.  Hollingsworth,  from  Elkton,  and  Mr.  Yanbibber 
from  Charlestown,  Cecil  county,  joined  by  their  brothers 
afterwards  moved  from  the  point  to  the  town,  and  madp 
other  considerable  improvements. 

The  first  settlers  were  in  fact  at  great  loss  to  deter- 
mine in  which  part  to  buy,  as  most  likely  to  improve*, 
and  those  who  had  sufficient  means  or  enterprize,  gene- 
rally took  lots  both  in  town  and  point. 

Mr.  Cornelius  Howard,  from  part  of  the  tract  of  land 
called  Lunn's  lot,  then  lately  re-surveyed  by  Mr.  How- 
ard, added  thirty  five  acres  of  it,  including  the  streets  cal- 
led Conway  and  Barre  after  those  successful  opponents 
of  the  stamp  act  in  the  British  parliament,  and 
the  dwelling  house  near  the  south  east  intersection  of 
Hanover  and  Pratt  streets,  and  running  between  the 
west  side  of  Forest  and  the  east  side  of  Liberty  to 
Saratoga  street,  which  addition  was  confirmed  by  law 
the  same  year,  aud  Messrs.  Keener,  Myers,  Yanbibber 
and  others  took  water  lots  of  him. 

Messrs.  Stevenson,  Smith,  Lyon,  Buchanan,  Sterett, 
Spear,  Plowman  and  others,  Presbyterians  erected  a 
church  on  East  now  Fayette  street,  where  the  present 
ghurch  stands,  in  this  year,  doctor  Patrick  Allison  be- 


44 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1765. 

* 

ing  their  minister,  having  fhree  years  before  leased  a lot 
on  which  they  erected  a small  place  of  worship  on  the  oth- 
er side  of  the  same  street  near  Gay  street,  which  they  now 
dispose  of  to  captain  Ridgely,  who  owned  the  house 
at  the  south  west  corner  of  Gay  and  Fayette  streets. 

The  next  year,  a law  was  passed  to  compel  Messrs.  ^ 
Harrison,  Lawson  and  Philpot  to  fill  up  the  marsh  be- 
tween Frederick  street  and  the  falls,  and  nine  commis-  i 
sioners,  viz.  Robert  Alexander,  John  Smith,  William 
Smith,  Jonathan  Plowman,  William  Spear,  Andrew 
Steiger,  Charles  Ridgely,  junr.  John  Merryman  and 
Benjamin  Griffith,  or  five  of  them  were  appointed  to  lay 
it  off  as  an  addition  to  the  town ; a law  was  also  passed  J 
prescribing  a quarantine  at  the  discretion  of  the  govern-  « 
or,  on  all  passenger  ships  infected  by  diseases , and  an- 
other relating  to  the  roads  of  the  county. 

In  this  year,  1766,  died  Mr.  Edward  Fell,  leaving 
one  son,  William,  an  infant. 

At  the  election  of  1767,  John  Ridgely,  Thomas  C. 
Deye,  John  Moale  and  Robert  Adair  Esqrs.  are  elec-  I 
ted  delegates.  Hitherto,  the  north  side  of  the  county  1 
appeared  to  have  its  share  of  representatives,  but  none 
of  these  Gentlemen  resided  remote  from  the  town. 
Mr.  Adair  who  was  sheriff  resided  in  the  house  1 
standing  at  the  south  east  corner  of  Baltimore  and  | 
South  streets,  which  was  about  that  time,  struck  I 
by  lightning  and  a Mr.  Richardson  of  Annopolis  killed.  1 
Such  had  now  been  the  increase  of  the  town,  and  the 
inconvenience  to  which  the  inhabitants  were  subjected 
in  attending  courts  at  Joppa,  that  a law  was  passed  in 


1768.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  45 

1768,  authorising  Messrs.  J.  B.  Bordley,  John  Ridgely 
Jr.  John  Moale,  Robert  Adair,  Robert  Alexander,  Wil- 
liam Smith  and  Andrew  Buchanan,  commissioners,  to 
build  a court  house  and  prison,  “on  the  uppermost 
part  of  Calvert  street  next  Jones’  falls.”  The  former 
built  of  brick  and  two  story  high,  with  a handsome 
cupola,  stood  where  the  Baltimore  monument  now  is, 
until  the  present  court  house  was  erected  in  1 808 ; 
the  latter,  the  prison,  of  stone,  two  stories  high,  also 
stood  on  the  west  end  of  the  same  lot,  adjacent  to  St. 
Pauls  lane,  now  street,  until  the  present  county  jail 
was  built,  in  1800. 

The  same  commissioners  were  directed  to  sell  the 
Court  house  and  prison  at  Joppa,  the  courts  being  ac- 
commodated in  the  mean  time  in  the  Hall  erected  for 
public  assemblies  over  the  market,  and  the  prisoners 
lodged  in  a log  building,  near  Mr.  Chamier  the  sheriff’s 
house  on  the  east  side  of  south  Frederick  street. 
The  subscription  towards  building  the  court  house, 
amounting  to  near  900Z  currency,  chiefly  by  inhabitants 
of  the  town,  did  not  reconcile  the  people  on  the  north 
and  east  sides  of  the  county  and  the  removal  of  the 
records  by  Mr.  Alexander  Lawson,  son  of  the  late 
Alexander  Lawson  and  now  clerk  of  the  county,  was  at- 
tended with  some  violence  and  outrage. 

A society  formed  by  Messrs.  David  Shields,  James 
Cox,  Gerard  Hopkins,  George  Lindenberger,  John  Dea- 
ver  and  others,  aided  by  a general  subscription,  procu- 
red an  engine  for  the  extinguishment  of  fires  in  1769, 
which  was  called  “The  Mechanical  Company.”  This 
was  the  first  machine  of  the  kind  here,  though  there  are 


ANNALS  0 F BALTIMORE. 


46 


[1M 


now  no  less  than  eight  others,  much  larger,  besides  six 
hose  companies,  alU  which  latterly  are  aided  by  the 
funds  of  the  city  to  the  amount  of  about  four  thousand 
dollars  a year.  The  first  engine  cost  ninety  nine  pounds 
or  264  dollars — but  the  same  company  have  procu- 
red a larger  and  more  powerful  engine,  as  all  the  oth- 
ers are. 

Doctor  Stevenson  converts  his  new  and  elegant 
house,  which  on  that  account  was  called  Stevenson’s 
folly,  to  the  very  laudable  purpose  of  a small  pox  in- 
firmary, by  appropriating- part  of  it  for  the  reception  of 
young  gentlemen  whom  he  inoculates  successfully  be- 
fore the  practice  had  become  general. 

The  exports  from  Virginia  and  Maryland  at  this  time 
included  85,000  hogsheads  of  Tobacco,  and  from  the 
middle  colonies  751,240  bushels  of  wheat,  45,868  tons 
flour  and  bread ; the  amount  of  all  the  imports  into  Eng- 
land from  the  two  first  mentioned  colonies  $4,401,820, 
exports  $ 3,  779, 061  present  currency  at  four  shillings 
and  six  pence  sterling  per  dollar;  there  was  therefore  an 
apparent  gain  to  Virginia  and  Maryland  of  above 
$600,000,  but  the  surplus  went  then  as  it  does  now^ 
to  the  greater  importing  and  manufacturing  inhabitants 
of  the  east. 


Messrs.  McNabb,  Walsh,  Stenson,  Houk,  Hillen, 
Brown,  Whelan,  with  the  French  emigrants  and  others; 
Roman  Catholics  having  sometime  before  obtained  the 
lot  of  Mr.  Carroll,  erected  a part  of  St.  Peter’s  Chapel 
on  Saratoga  street  in  1770;  but  they  had  no  settled 
Priest  until  the  arrival  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Charles  Sewafh 
ten  years  after. 


AKNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


17 


1770.] 

By  a ludricrous  suit  against  Ganganelli,  Pope  of  Rome , 
for  want  of  other  defendant,  to  recover  the  advances  of 
Mr.  McNabb,  become  a bankrupt,  the  church  was  some 
time  closed  at  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  and 
the  congregation  assembled  in  a private  house  in  south 
Charles  street  until  possession  was  recovered.  This 
was  sooner  than  was  expected,  by  the  address  of  captain 
Galbraith’s  company  of  volunteer  militia,  who  were 
guarding  some  Scotch  malcontents  from  North  Carolina 
but  desirous  not  to  omit  worship  insisted  upon  being 
marched  directly  to  the  church,  of  which  some  were 
members,  and  demanded  and  obtained  the  key. 

In  1771,  an  act  of  assembly  was  passed,  “to  prevent 
the  exportation  of  flour,  staves  and  shingles  not  mer- 
chantable, and  to  regulate  the  weight  of  hay  and  mea* 
sures  of  grain,  salt,  flaxseed  and  firewood.” 

The  commissioners  of  the  town  were  authorised  to 
appoint  the  inspectors.  Mr.  Jonathan  Hanson,  son 
of  the  former  gentleman  of  that  name  who  had 
erected  the  third,  fourth  and  fifth  mills  on  the  falls', 
was  appointed  inspector  of  flour,  which  continued  to  be 
sold  by  weight  until  after  the  revolution. 

The  tobacco  or  warehouse  system  which  was  intro* 
duced  for  flour  at  Charlestown,  was  wisely  abandoned. 
It  is  of  less  importance  by  whom  inspectors  are  appoint- 
ed, than  that  they  should,  like  the  administrators  of  the 
law  and  all  other  Judges  between  man  and  man,  hold 
their  office  during  good  behaviour.  Whilst  tobacco  was 
a legal  tender,  than  which  no  system  could  be  better 
adapted  to  tempt  every  planter  to  become  a counterfeiter 


48 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1771. 

and  produce  a bad  article,  county  warehouses  and  local 
inspectors  were  indispensable,  but  when  the  tobacco  of 
the  state  is  almost  all  brought  to  one  place,  and  no 
tender  one  system  should  be  common  to  both  flour  and 
tobacco. 

Messrs.  Cumberland  Dugan  and  Lemuel  Cravath, 
from  Boston,  and  the  latter  the  first  New  England  gen- 
tleman who  settled  here,  traded  largely  thence;  Mr,  Du- 
gan, who  had  gone  from  Ireland  and  married  at  Boston, 
took  the  lot  on  W ater  street  and  built  the  honse  standing 
obliquely  with  the  street  but  parallel  with  the  shore, 
near  Cheapside;  about  this  time  also,  Mr.  William 
Moore,  built  the  stone  house  at  the  south  east  corner 
of  South  and  Water  streets. 

South  street,  originally  an  alley  of  sixteen  and  a half 
feet,  was  widened  from  Baltimore  street  to  the  water,  by 
the  new  inspection  house,  at  the  instance  of  N.  Rogers’ 
guardians.  Samuel  Owings  and  George  Risteau,  Esqrs. 
were  elected  delegates  in  the  places  of  Messrs.  Ridgley 
and  Adair.  The  merchants  of  Baltimore,  like  those  of 
other  English  colonial  ports,  had  found  the  Mediteranean 
trade  the  most  profitable,  and  they  had  the  address  to 
limit  the  exactions  of  the  English  ministers  by  evading 
the  payment  of  the  customs  in  some  instances. 

Among  the  number  of  those  who  arrived  and  car- 
ried on  trade  from  Baltimore  about  this  period,  besides 
others  mentioned,  were  Messrs.  Hercules  Courtenay 
James  Clarke,  Thomas  Usher,  James  M’ Henry,  David 
Williamson,  David  Stewart,  Daniel  Carroll,  David  Plun- 
kett, James  Cheston,  John  Ashburner,  Matthew^  Ridley, 
Wm.  Russell,  Thomas  Russell,  Jonathan  Hudson,  Ro* 


1771]  Annals  of  Baltimore.  49 

Robert  Walsh,  Mark  Pringle,  James  Somervel, 
Thomas  Place,  John  Riddle,  Charles  Garts,  Wm.  Neil 
and  Johnson  Gildert,  and  from  other  states  or  other 
parts  of  this,  Messrs.  John  McKim,  George  Woolsey, 
James  Calhoun,  William  Aisquith,  Joseph  Magoffin  and 
Henry  Schaeffe;  and  different  trades  or  manufactures 
were  established  by  other  gentlemen,  who  lately  arrived 
from  other  parts  of  the  country  or  from  Europe  viz. 
Messrs.  George  Lindenberger,  Barnett  Eichelberger, 
Francis  Sanderson,  Richard  Lemmon,  Jacob  Walsh, 
William  Wilson,  George  Presstman,  Richardson  Stew- 
art, Robert  Steuart,  Englehard  Yeiser,  Christopher 
Hughes,  also  Mr.  John  Cornthwait,  who  established 
a tanyard  on  Wilkes  street,  the  west  side  of  Harford 
run,  and  Mr.  William  Smith,  who  established  the  Rope 
Walk  near  Bond  street,  which  was  the  first  except 
that  of  Mr.  Lux’s,  but  several  tanyards  had  been  estab- 
lished on  the  wrest  side  of  the  falls,  above  and  below 
Gay  street,  at  or  before  this  period. 

The  members,  of  the  bar  who  resided  here,  were 
Robert  Alexander,  Jeremiah  T.  Chase,  Benjamin 
NicholsCm,  Thomas  Jones,  George  Chalmers,  Robert 
Smith  of  W.  Robert  Buchanan  of  W.  Francis  Curtis 
and  David  McMechin  Esqrs. 

The  practising  Physicians  in  and  near  the  town, 
were  Doctors  Lyon,  Hultz,  Stenhouse,  Weisenthall, 
Pue,  Stevenson,  Boyd,  Craddock,  Haslet,  Gray  and 
Coulte$. 

In  May  1773,  Charles  Ridgely,  Thomas  C.  Deye, 
Aquilla  Hall  and  Walter  Tolley,  Esqrs.  were  elected 

7 


50  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1773 

Delegates  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  subversion 
of  the  colonial  government  taking  place  before  the  usual 
period  of  issuing  writs  for  an  election,  which  was  three 
years,  they  were  the  last  delegates  under  that  government. 
Messrs.  Moale  and  Steiger  were  authorised,  at  a session 
in  June,  to  add  eighteen  acres  of  ground  lying  between 
Bridge  now  Gay  and  Front  steeets.  It  was  not  carried 
into  effect  until  eight  years  after,  but  about  eighty  acres 
of  Plowman,  Philpot  and  F ell’s  lands  were  added  to 
the  town  on  the  east. 

The  markets  were  regulated  by  law,  and  the  commis- 
sioners authorised  to  hire  stalls,  appoint  a clerk,  &c. 

Hitherto  the  relief  afforded  the  poor  was  determined 
by  the  justices,  who  levied  annually  from  400  to  1200 
pounds  of  tobacco  for  each  person,  and  there  were  above 
200  at  this  time,  who  received  the  value  of  their  levies 
themselves,  or  by  the  hands  of  some  reputable  neigh- 
bour, as  was  the  practice  in  all  the  counties  until  within 
a few  years.  The  system  was  liable  to  great  abuses 
and  had  become  very  burdensome,  so  that  the  govern- 
ment loaned  4000  pounds  to  the  county,  and  Messrs.  C. 
Ridgely,  William  Lux,  John  Moale,  William  Smith, 
Samuel  Purviance,  Andrew  Buchanan  and  H.  D. 
Gough,  being  appointed  Trustees  of  the  poor,  erect  the 
centre  building  and  east  wing  of  the  house  on  north 
How  ard  street.  The  same  law  provided  for  the  em- 
ployment of  the  poor,  as  well  as  a workhouse  for  va- 
grants, and  the  relief  being  determined  by  the  discretion 
of  the  Trustees,  no  certainty  is  afforded  to  tempt  idlers ; 
experience  soon  proved  the  benefits  of  the  system,  and  it 
has  undergone  no  material  change  in  this  respect. 


1773.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  51 

The  house  caught  fire  accidentally,  on  the  18th  Sep- 
tember, 1776,  and  was  mostly  consumed,  but  was,  except 
a cupola,  rebuilt  and  the  west  wing  afterwards  added. 

At  different  times  Courts  of  Assize  and  nisi  prius? 
composed  of  one  or  more  judges  of  the  provincial 
court,  held  circuit  courts  in  the  counties,  and  sometimes 
prisoners  for  small  debts  were  relieved  by  a general  in- 
solvent law,  but  those  law  matters  were  oftener  deter- 
mined at  the  seat  of  government,  and  individuals  una- 
ble to  pay  their  debts  obtained  special  acts  for  their  re- 
lief. These  circumstances,  with  the  necessity  of  resort- 
ing to  Annapolis  to  get  registers  for  vessels,  to  enter 
and  clear  them,  helped  to  impede  the  growth  of  our 
Town.  However  at  this  time  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
county  courts  was  extended  to  causes  real  or  mixed, 
to  all  debts  and  criminal  offences.  A tonnage  duty  of 
four  pence  was  laid  on  the  entry  of  ships  towards  erect 
ing  a light  house  on  Cape  Henry  and  fixing  buoys  in 
the  bay  jointly  with  Virginia.  That  colony  had  appro- 
priated 10,000  l.  for  the  purpose,  and  Maryland  3,600/. 
but  the  difficulties  of  the  times  prevented  the  exeoution 
of  the  law,  until  about  the  year  1788. 

The  taxable  inhabitants,  that  is  all  male  persons  and 
female  slaves  above  sixteen  years,  being  10,498,  the 
free  w hite  population  about  20,000,  it  became  exceeding- 
ly troublesome  to  assemble  from  distances  of  thirty  and 
forty  miles,  to  which  the  limits  extended  northwardly 
from  Baltimore,  and  it  had  been  necessary  in  1769  to 
authorise  the  holding  of  the  election  for  delegates  at 
Bush  town  after  the  polls  had  been  closed  at  Baltimore. 
The  county  wras  therefore  divided,  and  that  part  lying 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


52 


[1773. 


north  of  the  little  falls  of  Gunpowder  was  erected  into 
a new  county,  by  the  name  of  the  then  proprietary  Mr. 
Harford,  and  at  the  same  session,  the  justices  or  any 
three  of  them  were  directed  to  hold  three  courts  a year 
for  the  trial  of  criminal  offences  exclusively.  This 
was  required  as  the  result  of  an  increase  of  population 
only,  and  if  any  should  imagine  that  it  was  a differ- 
ent kind  of  servants  from  those  introduced  amongst  our 
neighbours,  they  are  invited  to  remember  that  the  se- 
verity of  the  British  penal  laws  guaranteed  us  from 
any  worse  description  of  people  than  are  sent  forth 
from  penitentiaries  daily. 

After  the  new  limits  were  fixed,  the  county  became  as 
it  is  now,  a pentagon  or  five  sided  figure,  bounded  on 
the  south  by  the  Patapsco,  on  the  east  by  the  bay,  north 
east  by  Harford,  north  by  the  Pennsylvania  line 
and  on  the  west  by  Frederick  county.  It  is  about 
forty  miles  from  east  to  west,  and  thirty  from 
north  to  south;  divided  into  seventeen  hundreds  and 
twelve  election  districts,  exclusive  of  the  city,  and,  with 
it,  is  said  to  contain  622,084  acres  of  land  No  map  has 
yet  been  made  of  the  county  except  that  contained  in 
the  general  map  of  the  state,  and  a topographical  map 
which  would  delineate  the  improvements  and  natural 
resources  for  additional  ones,  on  a large  scale,  would  be 
as  useful  to  those  who  contemplate  future  works,  as  it 
would  be  gratifying  to  such  as  have  been  engaged  in 
those  already  made. 

At  this  time,  Gay  street  bridge  was  rebuilt  of  wood, 
and  a new  one  erected  at  Baltimore  street,  first  of  stone, 
which  gave  way  when  finished  and  the  centres  Removed, 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


53 


1773-] 

and  then  of  wood,  ftnd  on  Water  street  for  the  first 
time,  another  of  wood ; to  the  two  last  of  which  it  was 
necessary  to  raise  causeways  from  Frederick  street 
across  the  marsh. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  Mr.  Wm.  Goddard,  printer, 
of  Rhode  Island,  moved  from  Philadelphia  and  com- 
menced the  publication  of  the  first  newspaper,  which 
was  issued  once  a week,  under  the  title  of  “Maryland 
Journal  and  Baltimore  Advertiser,”  from  a house  in 
South  street,  east  side,  near  the  corner  of  Baltimore 
street;  until  which  time  it  was  usual  to  take  the  papers 
from  and  send  advertisements  to  either  Annapolis  or 
Philadelphia.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Joseph  Rathel  issued 
proposals  for  a Circulating  Library  here,  but  without 
success. 

The  importance  of  the  trade  and  intercourse  had  al- 
ready produced  the  establishment  of  a line  of  packets 
and  stages,  by  the  head  of  Elk,  to  and  from  Philadel- 
phia, and  a coffee  house  or  hotel  was  opened  at  thePoint. 

The  bills  of  credit  had  depreciated  in  all  the  colo- 
nies, and  fell  here  to  200/.  for  100/.  sterling  before 
the  year  1 7 50,  but  had  recovered  their  credit  in  Mary- 
land, and  bills  of  exchange  were  quoted  at  sixty  five 
and  two  thirds  to  sixty  two  and  a half;  Wheat  six  shil- 
lings per  bushel.  Flour  twenty  shillings  per  cwt.  Bar 
Iron  twenty  six  pound  per  ton,  Pig  Iron  eight  pound  per 
ton,  Salt  two  shillings,  Sugar  forty  five  to  sixty  shillings, 
Pork  eighty  five  shillings,  Tar  thirteen  shillings,  Tur- 
pentine twenty  two  shillings  and  six  pence.  Tobacco 
was  generally  shipped  for  account  of  the  Planters,  but 
Eastern  shore  was  not  worth  more  than  elevep 


51 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[177S. 

and  three  pence  and  Elkridge  from  twenty  to 
thirty  shillings,  there  was  none  of  the  kinds  now  cal- 
led bright  yellow  or  kite  foot,  cultivated  then. 

Although  the  legal  currency  and  money  of  account 
remained  as  fixed  by  the  coins  one  hundred  years  be- 
fore at  six  shillings  per  dollar,  the  par  at  this  period 
must  be  considered  by  general  assent,  at  seven  shil- 
lings and  sixpence,  and  so  the  legislature  established 
the  money  by  the  law  entitled  “an  act  for  the  payment 
of  the  public  creditors,”  and  this  rate  was  confirmed 
directly  after  the  declaration  of  Independence. 

Messrs.  Douglass  and  Hallam  had  presented  the 
inhabitants  with  some  theatrical  performances,  in  a 
warehouse  which  stood  at  the  north  west  corner  of  Bal- 
timore and  Frederick  streets,  and  now  encouraged  by 
the  friends  of  the  Drama  erect  a small  Theatre  near 
the  intersection  of  Albemarle  and  George,  now  Water 
street,  where  they  performed  until  the  war;  all  those 
amusements  being  then  prohibited,  they  removed  to  the 
English  West  India  Islands.  However  a company 
w ith  Mr.  Wall  performed  in  York,  now  Baltimore  street 
in  1781,  and  Mr.  Hallam  returned  after  the  wrar,  with 
Mr.  Henry  and  built  another  Theatre  near  Queen,  now 
Pratt  street,  to  accommodate  the  town  and  point. 

Until  this  period  the  hills  on  which  the  Cathedral  and 
Hospital  are  erected,  and  the  grounds  west  of  Greene 
street  where  Mr.  Lux  had  established  a Rope  walk,  and 
the  south  shore  of  the  river  from  Lee  street,  where 
Mr.  Thomas  Mogan  set  up  the  frame  of  a ship,  to  the 
fort  point  wTere  covered  with  forest  trees  or  small  plan- 
tations. The  grounds  between  the  town  and  point,  cab 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


,1773] 


■5$> 


led  Philpot’s  hill,  remained  an  open  common.  The 
last  fair  was  held  on  Mr.  Howard’s  grounds  between 
Liberty  and  Greene  streets,  where  races  were  aho  rafe 
before  the  revolution.  Most  of  the  timber  fell  a prey 
to  the  wants  of  necessitous  inhabitants  during  the  cold 
winters  of  1779  and  1783,  and  improvements  did  not 
commence  even  on  Mr.  Philpot’s  grounds  for  some 
years  after. 

Messrs.  John  and  Charles  Wesley  had  visited  Geor- 
gia as  missionaries  in  1735,  but  soon  returned  to  Eng- 
land. In  1740,  Mr.  John  Whitfield  arrived  there  and 
passed  through  Baltimore  on  several  visits  to  the  north. 
But  now  several  followers  of  Mr.  John  Wesley  having 
arrived  in  America  and  visited  Baltimore,  amongst  oth- 
ers the  Rev  Messrs.  Asbury,  Rankin,  Webb  and  King, 
are  joined  by  Messrs.  Jesse  Hollingsworth, George  Wells, 
Richard  Moale,  George  Robinson,  John  Woodward  and 
others,  and  a society  is  formed  and  a church  erected  in 
1773,  in  Strawberry  alley,  and  the  next  year  part  of  the 
same  society  erect  another  church  in  Lovely  lane. — 
Two  years  after  on  the  twenty  first  of  May,  the  preach- 
ers held  their  first  conference  in  this  town,  three  former 
being  held  in  Philadelphia;  but  the  society  was  yet  only 
an  auxiliary  to  other  churches,  as  the  preachers  were 
still  considered  laymen,  the  members  received  the  sacra- 
ments with  the  societies  to  which  they  had  been  attach- 
ed until  after  the  revolution. 

Messrs.  Griffith,  Shields,  Lemmon,  Presstman, 
McKim,  Cpx  and  others  buy  the  lot  and  erect  a part 
of  the  church  on  Front  street  for  the  Baptist  society 
the  Rev.  John  Davis  from  Harford  officiating  oc- 


56 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1773 

casionally,  but  they  were  not  regularly  constituted 
until  1785,  when  the  Rev.  Lewis  Richards  was  chosen 
minister. 

The  German  Lutherans,  of  whom  were  Messrs. 
Lindenberger,  Wershler,  Hart  wig,  Hoeckle,  Rock, 
Grasmuck,  Levely  and  Barnetz,  doctor  Wiesenthall  and 
others,  with  the  aid  of  a Lottery,  erected  a new  church 
in  Fish  now  Saratoga  street,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gerock  being 
their  pastor,  having  been  assisted  in  religious  duties  by 
visiting  clergy  of  that  society  from  York  or  Lancaster 
until  now. 

As  this  town  did  not  appear  to  be  the  C apitol  of  the 
Province  and  the  population  and  wealth  of  the  place 
had  ;ot  v t attracted  the  notice  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, the  teas  upon  which  it  was  intended  to  raise  a re- 
venue were  like  the  stamps,  sent  to  Annapolis,  where 
they  meet  that  fate  which  would  have  attended  them 
here,  and  Baltimore  was,  like  the  rest  of  the  confedera- 
cy, saved  from  these  fatal  impositions  altogether. 

At  the  last  session  of  the  provincial  Legislature 
which  assembled  twenty  third  March  1774,  an  act  pas- 
sed providing  for  the  appointment  by  the  commissioners 
of  a guager,  prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquid  merchandise 
before  guaging;  and  another  appropriating  the  sum  of 
4000/.  or  I0,666f  dollars  as  a loan  to  make  the  three 
great  roads  leading  to  the  town,  to  be  expended  under 
the  direction  of  Isaac  Griest,  Benjamin  Griffith  and 
Jesse  Hollingsworth,  and  thirteen  gentlemen  in  the 
county  named  in  the  act,  supervisors. 

The  British  government  had  determined  not  only  to 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


57 


1774] 

increase  the  exactions  on  the  trade  of  the  colonists,  but 
to  enforce  them  by  military  power,  so  that  their  evasion 
become  almost  impracticable. — They  were  no  longer 
mere  matters  of  form,  but  tangible  substances,  and  most 
likely  to  be  resisted  where  the  trade  was  most  extensive 
and  the  grievance  more  severely  felt,  as  was  the  case  to 
the  eastward. 

In  the  Maryland  Journal  of  the  twenty  eighth  of  May 
1774,  a notice  appeared  of  which  the  following  is  a 
copy,  “On  Tuesday  last,  a few  hours  after  the  arrival  of 
an  express  from  Philadelphia  relative  to  the  situation  of 
affairs  at  Boston,  a number  of  merchants  and  respectable 
mechanics  of  this  town  met  at  the  Court  House  and 
appointed  a committee  to  correspond  with  the  neighbor- 
ing colonies,  as  the  exigency  of  affairs  may  make  it 
occasionally  necessary.” 

The  news  was  the  arrival  of  governor  Gage  with  a 
bill  for  blocking  the  port  of  Boston,  and  the  retreat  of 
governor  Hutchinson  from  the  town  to  Fort  Williams 
now  Fort  Independence. 

Committees  appointed  by  the  several  counties  met  at 
Annapolis  on  the  twenty  second  of  June,  in  which  Bal- 
timore county  and  town  were  represented  by  captain 
Charles  Ridgely,  Thomas  C.  Deye,  Walter  Tolley  Jr. 
Robert  Alexander,  William  Lux,  Samuel  Purviance  Jr. 
and  George  Risteau  Esqrs.  By  them,  non-importation 
resolves  were  entered  into ; collections  were  to  be  made 
for  the  relief  of  the  Bostonians  and  congressmen  were 
appointed.  The  congress  which  met  at  Philadelphia 
on  the  fifth  of  September,  having  adopted  similar  mea- 

8 


58 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1774. 


sures,  recommended  the  appointment  of  town  and  coun- 
ty committees  throughout  the  colonies:  and  on  the 
twelfth  of  November  a meeting  of  the  freeholders  and 
other  inhabitants  of  Baltimore  county  and  town,  enti- 
tled to  vote,  was  held  at  the  court  house  and  the  fol- 
lowing gentlemen  were  chosen  to  compose  the  commit- 
tee for  Baltimore  town,  viz.  Messrs. 


Andrew  Buchanan 
Robert  Alexander 
William  Lux 
John  Moale 
John  Merry  man 
Richard  Moale 
Jeremiah  T.  Chase 
Thomas  Harrison 
Archibald  Buchanan 
William  Buchanan 
William  Smith 
James  Calhoun 
Benjamin  Griffith 
Gerard  Hopkins 
William  Spear 


John  Smith 
Barnet  Eichelberger 
George  Woolsey 
Hercules  Courtenay 
Isaac  Griest 
Mark  Alexander 
Samuel  Purviance  Junior 
Francis  Sanderson 
Dr.  John  Boyd 
George  Lintenberger 
Philip  Rogers 
David  McMechen 
Mordecai  Gist 
and 

John  Deaver 


in  all  twenty  nine,  and  thirty  eight  other  gentlemen  for 
the  county ; of  whom  Messrs. 

Thomas  C.  Deye  Samuel  Worthington 

captain  Charles  Ridgely  John  Moale 

Walter  Tolley  junior  doctor  John  Boyd 

Benjamin  Nicholson  William  Buchanan. 


1774.] 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


59 


or  any  three  of  them  were  a committee  to  attend  the 
committee  meetings  at  Annapolis,  and  Messrs. 

Robert  Alexander  John  Moale 

Samuel  Purviance  junior  Jeremiah  T.  Chase 
Andrew  Buchanan  William  Buchanan 

doctor  John  Boyd  William  Lux. 

or  any  four  of  them  a committee  of  correspondence  for 
Baltimore  town. 

Of  the  Baltimore  committee,  Samuel  Purviance,  Esq. 
was  elected  chairman,  and  possessing  much  ardour  in 
the  cause  which  his  excellent  talents  enabled  him  to 
promote  in  an  eminent  manner,  so  continued  until  the 
new  government  was  organised.  Mr.  Chase  was  the 
first  secretary,  but  as  other  duties  were  confided  to  him, 
was  succeeded  by  Mr.  George  Lux. 

After  the  separation  of  Harford  county,  there  remain- 
ed twenty  three  justices  for  the  town  and  county,  of 
whom  Andrew  Buchanan,  Jonathan  Plowman,  John 
Moale,  William  Buchanan,  William  Spear,  John 
Smith,  Isaac  Yanbibber,  James  Calhoun,  Hercules 
Courtenay  and  William  Russell,  Esqrs.  resided  in  ornear 
town.  Mr.  A.  Buchanan  was  presiding  justice,  Mr. 
Alexander  Lawson,  son  of  Mr.  Lawson  before  mention- 
ed, clerk  of  the  county,  and  Robert  Christie,  Esq. 
sheriff.  Thomas  Jennings,  Esq.  of  Annapolis,  being  at- 
torney general,  attended  the  courts  as  occasion  required. 

Doctors  Hultse,  Weisentliall,  Craddock  and  Haslet 
attended  the  poor  of  the  county,  and  Messrs.  Oliver 
Cromwell  and  Henry  Stevenson  were  the  inspectors  of 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


60 


[1774, 


tobacco,  receiving  each  certain  salaries  out  of  the  levy, 
annually. 

The  number  of  taxable  inhabitants  in  the  county,  in- 
cluding the  town,  was  7410,  and  the  levy  1 7 2 pounds  of 
tobacco  each,  per  po//,  together,  1,274,520  pounds.  Al- 
though the  rate  was  in  tobacco,  the  taxables  had  the 
option  of  paying  in  current  money  at  twelve  shillings 
and  six  pence  per  100  pounds,  and  the  price  of  the  ar- 
ticlebeing then  from  fifteen  to  twenty  five  shillings  in  Bal- 
timore they  generally  did  so  of  course.  Besides  1 1 1,150 
pounds  towards  the  poor  house,  the  alms  of  this  county 
included  in  the  above,  amounted  to  124,700  pounds,  re- 
lieving above  200  persons.  It  is  true,  that  a great  part 
of  the  levy  w as  not  for  current  charges ; in  particular,  the 
quantities: 


For  grounds  and  a new  tobacco  house, 


erecting  at  the  Point, 

183,556  lbs. 

To  repay  the  bills  loaned  for  poorhouse, 

roads,  &c. 

177,840 

Indemnity  to  Harford  county,  for  pub- 
lic buildings  in  town  which  they  had 

contributed  to  build, 

77,333 

Due  former  Sheriff, 

64,724 

Bridge  on  Gunpowder, 

20,000 

Town  market  house, 

3,000 

526,453  lbs. 

Being  above  two  fifths  of  the  whole  levy  of  the  year, 
as  above.  Although  this  levy  was  rendered  still  more 
burdensome  by  the  parish  rate  of  ten  pounds  of  tobacco 
per  poll  on  twp  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty  one 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


61 


1774.] 

taxables  then  rated,  the  venerable  rector,  Mr.  Chase, 
undertook  the  edcuation  of  several  children.  A number 
of  others  learned  the  languages  &c.  from  the  late  Dr. 
Archer,  of  Harford,  and  Mr.  James  Alcock. 

On  the  8th  December,  the  deputies  appointed  by  the 
several  counties  met  at  Annapolis,  and  resolved,  “that 
they  would  maintain  the  association  just  entered  into 
by  congress,”  purporting  a settled  and  united  resistance 
of  the  late  acts  of  the  British  Parliament,  recommending 
the  enrolment  of  the  militia  and  a voluntary  contribu- 
tion of  10,000  pounds,  of  which  933  pounds  by  Baltimore 
county^  for  the  purchase  of  arms  and  ammunition. 
Messrs.  Richard  Moale,  William  Spear,  Isaac  Vanbib- 
ber  and  Isaac  Griest  were  appointed  a committee  of 
this  town  to  observe  and  report  the  arrival  of  vessels. 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  the  office  of  deputy  postmas^ 
ter  general  was  taken  from  Dr.  Franklin  by  the  Ministry, 
and  the  communications  by  mail  exposed  to  the  control 
of  English  agents.  Mr.  Goddard,  editor  of  the  Mary- 
land Journal  in  this  town,  devised  and  succeeded  in  es- 
tablishing an  independent  line  from  Massachusetts,  first 
to  Virginia,  and  afterwards  to  Georgia,  and  he  was  ap- 
pointed surveyor  of  the  post  roads  by  congress,  but  they 
having  restored  his  office  to  Dr.  Franklin  the  ensuing 
year,  Mr.  Goddard  was  disappointed,  and  retiring  him- 
self, made  his  sister  ostensible  editor  of  the  newspaper. 
The  sister,  Miss  Mary  K.  Goddard,  who  was  aided  in 
the  editorial  department  of  the  paper  by  several  gentle- 
men of  talents  and  public  spirit,  kept  the  post  office 
also,  for  many  years  after  the  return  of  her  brother,  and 
until  the  establishment  of  the  federal  government  in 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1774 

1 789,  having  by  her  attention  and  integrity  obtained 
the  entire  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  public. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  year  1775,  Mr.  John  Dun- 
lap of  Philadelphia  established  a weekly  paper  by  the 
title  of  “Dunlap’s  Maryland  Gazette,”  under  the  direc- 
tion of 'Mr.  James  Hayes  who  became  editor  in  1778 
but  discontinued  it,  to  be  revived  by  his  son,  as  Mr. 
Goddard’s  paper  was  by  himself. 

Early  in  this  year  a few  gentlemen  undertook  a cen- 
sus of  the  town  and  it  was  found  that  there  were  five 
hundred  and  sixty  four  houses  and  five  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  thirty  four  persons  of  all  descriptions. — 
The  Baltimore  committee  of  observation,  imitating  the 
committees  in  other  places,  determined  not  only  to  pro- 
hibit the  use  of  Tea,  but  the  landing  of  English  Salt, 
although  the  price  was  near  a dollar  and  two  thirds  a 
bushel,  and  so  much  wanted,  unless  a duty  of  two  pence 
per  bushel  was  paid  for  the  use  of  the  Bostonians. 

The  committee  had  accepted  the  explanations  given 
by  several  persons  charged  with  inimical  acts,  but  the 
people  accused  Mr.  James  Dalgleish,  a foreign  mer- 
chant, who  had  declared  his  aversion  to  the  cause  and 
therefore  as  soon  as  he  had  been  published  as  an  enemy 
he  fled  for  safety.  The  laws  against  Roman  Catholic 
teachers  still  existing,  some  persons  actuated  by  worse 
motives,  broke  up  Mr.  John  Heffernan’s  school  and  he 
also  left  the  place.  Other  individuals  were  also  expo- 
sed to  personal  violence  as  it  was  alledged,  from  the 
mistaken  zeal  of  the  committee  itself  or  ignorance  of 
the  principles  by  which  they  should  be  governed,  they 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


m 


1775.] 

published  a declaration  on  the  nineteenth  of  Aprih“that 
they  had  in  no  instance  exceeded  the  line  pointed  out 
by  congress  and  the  provincial  assembly,  and  abhorring 
every  idea  of  proscription,  the  committee  call  upon 
persons  who  have  circulated  such  reports  to  disclose 
the  author,”  they  also  declare  that  their  meetings  had 
been  held  in  public  “and  their  records  free  and  open  for 
inspection.”  An  instance  of  moderation  occurred  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  James  Christie:  A letter  of  his  to  a rela- 

tion in  the  British  service,  which  was  intercepted,  cau- 
sed him  to  be  arrested  and  protected,  while  the  conven 
tion,  upon  his  appeal,  fined  him  500/.  sterling  and  or- 
dered him  to  leave  the  province. 

Pursuant  to  a recommendation  of  congress,  the  com- 
mittee prohibited  the  fair  then  approaching  by  desiring 
the  inhabitants  to  abstain  from  such  assemblages,  as 
well  as  horse  racing,  cock  fighting,  &c. 

Several  members  of  the  German  or  Dutch  Presby- 
terian society  attached  to  the  Rev.  William  Otterbein 
form  a separate  religious  society  which  they  distinguish 
by  the  name  of  the  “German  Evangelical  Reformed,” 
and  they  purchased  a lot  where  their  present  church  is 
on  Conway  street  and  worship  in  a small  house  there. 

Before  the  1 9th  of  April  when  the  battle  of  Lexington 
took  place,  the  town  had  formed  several  companies  of 
each  description  of  arms  and  every  exertion  was  made 
to  procure  ammunition.  Amongst  others  general  Bu- 
chanan the  lieutenant  of  the  county,  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  zeal  and  took  command  of  a company  of 
gentlemen  of  riper  years,  and  a company  of  their  sons 
and  others,  mostly  unmarried,  who  armed  and  equipped 


64 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1775. 

themselves  in  an  elegant  scarlet  uniform,  put  themselves 
under  the  command  of  captain,  afterwards  general  Gist, 
lieutenant  Thomas  Ewing  and  other  officers,  who  with 
some  of  the  privates  became  distinguished  in  different 
commands  in  the  regular  service  afterwards,  being  train- 
ed by  Mr.  Richard  Carey  adjutant,  who  had  arri- 
ved from  New  England  and  had  been  a member  of  the 
ancient  artillery  company  of  Boston,  then  lately  com- 
manded by  John  Hancock  Esq.  first  president  of 
congress. 

The  provincial  convention  having  entered  into  arti- 
cles of  association  in  August,  declaring  in  the  name  of 
the  inhabitants  that  “they  would  to  the  utmost  in  their 
power,  prosecute  and  support  the  then  opposition  carry- 
ing on,  as  well  by  arms,  as  by  the  continental  associa- 
tion.” Provided  for  regular  elections  of  their  succes- 
sors, and  of  committee  men,  by  “the  freeholders  of  each 
county  and  other  free  men  having  a visible  estate  of 
forty  pounds  sterling,  or  qualified  by  law  to  vote  for 
burgesses.”  Baltimore  county  and  town  were  allowed 
to  send  five  delegates  and  to  have  thirty  seven  commit- 
tee men,  whose  powers  extended  to  the  general  police 
and  local  government  of  the  county;  the  county  was 
also  directed  to  furnish  five  of  forty  companies  minute 
men . Several  gentlemen  volunteered  and  joined  the 
army  before  Boston,  amongst  others  Messrs.  Richard 
Carey,  David  Hopkins  and  James  McHenry,  the  latter 
having  made  some  progress  in  medicine  became  surgeon. 

At  or  before  this  time  there  arrived  and  settled  in  the 
town,  Messrs.  Hugh  Young,  Alexander  Donaldson, 
Christopher  Johnston,  James  Sterling,  John  Weather- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


65 


1775.] 

burn,  George  Salmon,  John  McFadon  and  others  who 
were  foreigners,  and  Messrs.  William  Young,  Hezekiah 
Waters,  Benjamin  May,  Peter  Hoffman,  George  War- 
ner, Anthony  Houck  and  others  from  this  or  neigh- 
bouring provinces. 

Messrs.  Robert  Alexander,  Benjamin  Nicholson, 
John  Moale,  Walter  Tolley  Jr.  and  Jeremiah  T.  Chase, 
were  elected  delegates.  The  committee  of  observation 
was  composed  of  Messrs.  Moale,  Chase,  Calhoun, 
Nicholson,  A.  Buchanan,  Craddock,  Sollers,  Gittings, 
Alexander,  Purviance,  Wilkinson,  Ridgely,  of  William, 
Tolley,  Darby  Lux,  John  Cockey,  William  Smith, 
William  Buchanan,  William  Lux,  Dr.  Boyd,  John 
Smith,  Zacariah  Maccubbin,  captain  Charles  Ridgely, 
Harrison,  Griffith,  Randall,  Thomas  Gist,  Cromwell, 
Griest,  Deye,  Mordecai  Gist,  Stevenson,  Towson  Wil- 
liam Aisquith,  John  E.  Howard,  Risteau  and  Britton; 
Mr.  Purviance,  Chairman,  Mr.  William  Lux,  Vice 
Chairman,  Mr.  George  Lux,  Clerk,  and  Mr.  McMechen, 
assistant  Clerk.  Messrs.  Purviance,  William  Lux, 
Chase,  Alexander  and  doctor  Boyd,  were  appointed  a 
Committee  of  correspondence.  Messrs.  Purviance, 
John  Smith,  William  Buchanan,  Griffith,  Griest,  Tho- 
mas Gist  Jr.  and  Darby  Lux,  were  a committee  to 
superintend  the  trade  and  import  arms.  There  was 
.another  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Moale,  Harri- 
son, Calhoun  Sollers,  Aisquith,  Ridgely  of  William,  and 
John  E.  Howard,  selected  to  license  suits  at  law,  as  re- 
commended by  the  Convention,  to  prevent  the  abuse 
of  them  which  the  disaffected  might  make;  for  some 
debtors  had  been  rescued  from  the  sheriff  already;  but 

0 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


66 


[1773 


the  courts  being  still  open,  they  were  restored  to  cus> 
tody  by  captain  Budianan  and  captain  Gist’s  companies, 
which  received  a vote  of  thanks  from  the  Convention. 

Many  vessels  returning  home,  learned  the  commence* 
ment  of  hostilities  by  being  searched  and  stripped  of 
their  arms  and  ammunition,  but  they  soon  retaliated, 
and  powder  and  ball  were  distributed  to  the  militia.  It 
was  soon  discovered  that  it  would  be  highly  essential  to 
the  safety  of  the  town,  to  erect  a fort  on  Whetstone 
Point;  a water  battery,  planned  by  Mr  James  Alcock, 
was  commenced  under  the  superintend  ance  of  Messrs. 
Griest,  Griffith  and  Lindenberger,  captain  N.  Smith 
commanding  the  artillery  there. 

Three  massive  chains  of  wrought  iron,  passing 
through  floating  blocks  were  stretched  across  the  river,  { 
leaving  a small  passage  only,  on  the  side  next  the  fort^ 
and  the  channel  was  protected  by  sunken  vessels  also. 

In  a regiment  of  regular  troops,  commanded  by  Coh 
Smallwood,  Messrs.  Mordecai  Gist,  Samuel  Smith, 
David  Plunkett,  Brian  Philpot,  and  William  Ridgely 
held  commissions  and  raised  men  in  Baltimore. 

A Bermudian  sloop  was  purchased,  armed  with  ten 
guns,  called  the  Hornet  and  put  under  the  command  of 
capt.Wm.  Stone ; she  joined  the  expedition  under  commo- 
dore Hopkins  from  the  Delaware,  and  on  the  arrival  of 
which  at  New  Providence  that  place  ^as  surrendered, and  \ 
the  stores  and  ammunition  brought  away;  but  the  Hor- 
net was  driven  ashore  and  lost  attempting  to  enter  the 
Delaware.  Congress  had  recommended  a general  fast 
for  the  20th  July,  and  it  was  kept  here  by  the  meetings  1 
of  religious  societies  for  worship. 


1776.]  ANNALS  OF  B/(LTIMORE:  6t 

On  the  8th  March,  1776,  the  Otter  ship  of  war  and 
tenders,  made  their  appearance  a few  miles  below  the 
town.  To  a population  unaccustomed  to  war,  the  alarm 
was  great  of  course,  but  the  women  and  children  flying, 
were  met  by  volunteers  entering  to  their  relief;  and  cap- 
tain James  Nicholson,  of  the  state  ship  Defence,  which 
had  been  a merchantman  recently  bought  of  Mr.  John 
Smith,  manned  partly  by  captain,  now  general  Smith’s 
company,  as  marines,  and  volunteers  from  the  town,  who 
succeeded,  not  only  in  driving  away  the  enemy’s  flotilla, 
but  recapturing  some  merchant  vessels  of  which  they 
had  got  possession. 

The  5th  June,  captain  Nicholson  obtained  hiscom- 
lhission  from  congress,  being  the  first  officer  in  rank 
in  the  United  States  naval  service,  and  soon  after  took 
command  of  the  Virginia  frigate. 

Captain  William  Hallock  was  also  commissioned  by 
congress  10th  October,  and  commanded  the  Lexing- 
ton, of  16  guns;  in  the  mean  time  Mr.  Joshua  Barney, 
who  had  been  with  the  expedition  at  New  Providence, 
received  a commission,  and  in  the  Andrew  Doria  and 
other  vessels,  evidenced  the  utmost  courage  and  address. 

Governor  Eden  adjourned  the  assembly  from  time  to 
time,  and  by  his  conduct  generally  appeared  averse  to 
the  ministerial  measures;  but,  upon  the  interception  of 
despatches  from  the  government  to  him  delivered  to 
general  Charles  Lee,  at  Charleston,  the  general  wrote 
to  the  Baltimore  committee  to  have  him  arrested : The 

Chairman,  Mr.  Purviance,  applied  to  major  Gist,  comj 
manding  the  regulars  in  the  town,  who  sent  captain 
£mith  with  his  company  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the 


68 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1776. 

* 

governor,  and  deliver  a letter  to  Mr.  Johnson,  president 
of  the  council  of  safety.  The  council  being  called  to- 
gether, captain  Smith  was  told  that  his  services  were  no 
longer  necessary. 

Soon  after,  the  Convention^  in  support  of  the  authority 
of  the  executive,  summoned  the  chairman  and  military 
officers  to  their  bar,  and  some  moderate  censure  was 
passed  on  the  principals ; but,  satisfied  themselves  at  the 
time,  that  the  duty  of  Mr.  Eden  as  governor  was  in- 
compatible with  the  interest  of  the  public,  they  requested 
him  to  leave  the  country, which  he  did  June  24, by  a vessel 
sent  for  him  by  Lord  Dunmore,  who  had  commenced  hos- 
tilities and  been  plundering  the  Virginians  a long  time. 

Dunmore  coming  into  the  Patowmack,  obliged 
the  convention  to  order  a draft  of  three  thousand  four 
hundred  militia  for  a flying  camp.  Sensible  of  the  gene- 
ral danger,  the  members  became  willing  to  enlist  the 
feelings  and  interests  of  a community  so  important  as 
that  of  Baltimore.  They  now  invited  the  inhabi- 
tants to  participate  directly  in  the  government  of  the 
state,  by  authorising  them  to  choose  two  delegates  for 
the  town  exclusive  of  the  four  for  the  county. 

Notice  of  an  election  of  a convention  to  form  a constitu- 
tion of  the  state,  w as  published  the  3d  July,  to  be  held 
the  5th  August,  for  the  freemen  w except  such  as  has  been 
'published  as  enemies  to  this  country to  attend  and  give 
in  their  votes.  There  appears  to  have  been  472  votes 
taken,  and  Messrs.  John  Smith  and  Jeremiah  T.  Chase, 
were  duly  elected  for  the  town;  and  Messrs.  Charles 
Ridgely,  Thomas  C.  Deye,  John  Stevenson  and  Peter 
Sheppard  for  the  county,  853  votes  being  taken  at  their 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


69 


1776.] 

•polls.  By  a census  taken  of  the  P >int,  the  population 
thefe  consisted  of  821  persons  of  146  whom  were  mas- 
ters of  families  v r house  keepers. 

In  the  mean  time,  that  is,  on  the  22d  July,  the  De- 
claration of  Independence  was  proclaimed  at  the  court 
house,  at  the  head  of  the  independent  companies  and 
the  several  companies  of  the  militia,  with  the  discharge 
of  cannon,  and,  says  the  editor  of  the  Journal,  “with 
universal  acclamations  for  the  prosperity  of  the  Uni- 
ted Sutes.”  In  the  evening  the  town  was  illuminated 
and  an  effigy  of  the  late  king  which  had  been  paraded 
through  the  streets,  was  publicly  burned. 

Mr.  Christie  who,  as  sheriff,  had  the  preceding 
month  published  a writ  of  the  governor  for  a new  elec- 
tion, which  the  convention  had  suspended,  was  notwith- 
standing invited  by  the  committee  to  read  the  act  of  con- 
gress, but  refusing  from  a sense  of  official  duty,  that 
respect  for  his  person  and  character  which  had  produced 
the  invitation  was  as  prompt  to  excuse  him.  These 
feelings  were  not  universal  as  it  appears,  and  the  com- 
mitteee  issued  the  following  resolve  dated  thirtieth  July. 

“This  committee  do  declare  their  utter  disapprobation 
of  all  threats  or  violence  being  offered  to  any  persons 
whatever,  as  contrary  to  the  resolves  of  congress  and 
the  sense  of  the  convention  of  this  province: — That 
they  conceive  themselves  bound  to  protect  (as  far  as  in 
their  power)  the  civil  officers  in  the  discharge  of  their 
duty.  That  they  do  expect  of,  and  call  upon  every 
good  citizen  and  friend  of  his  country,  to  assist  them  in 
their  endeavours  to  preserve  the  peace  and  good  order 
of  society;  and  to  prevent  all  riots  and  tumults  and 


70 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1776 

personal  abuse  and  violence  to  individuals.  That  the 
good  people  of  Baltimore,  having  hitherto  been  so  re- 
spectfully attentive  to  the  resolves  of  this  committee, 
on  all  occasions,  they  flatter  themselves  that  due  regard 
will  be  paid  to  this  recommendation.” 

Never  was  a people  more  united  in  opinion  on  any 
subject,  than  w ere  the  Americans,  both  natives  and  em- 
igrants in  condemning  and  opposing  the  acts  of  the 
parliament  of  England  taxing  the  colonists.  Some 
however  saw  in  these  acts  only  the  selfish  design  of 
one  class  of  subjects  to  relieve  themselves  by  throwing 
their  burthen  upon  others,  and  believing  the  king  and 
the  English  people  generally,  exempt  from  such  motives, 
thought  the  evils  temporary ; so  that  when  the  more  en- 
terprising politicians,  they  who  looked  to  the  future  in- 
crease of  population  and  wealth  which  wras  to  take 
place  here,  and  foresaw  that  the  separation  must  some- 
time happen,  let  the  administration  of  the  British  gov- 
ernment fall  into  the  purest  hands ; joined  to  the  Cath- 
olics and  dissenters,  who  had  besides  the  common  grie- 
vances, others  of  a religious  and  more  delicate  kind, 
and  not  likely  to  be  removed  at  any  time ; — w hen  these 
descriptions  of  people  united,  had  declared  that  the 
country  should  be  free  of  all  colonial  dependence,  many 
individuals  of  great  private  virtue  and  highly  esteemed 
by  the  people,  withdrew  from  the  country.  Of  these 
may  be  mentioned  Robert  Alexander  Esq.  who  had 
been  a delegate  to  the  convention  and  to  congress; 
Daniel  Chamier  Esq.  late  sheriff  of  the  county;  doctors 
Henry  Stevenson  and  Patrick  Kennedy;  Mr.  James 
Somcrvel,  Merchant,  &c.  These  and  others  in  rett 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


71 


1776] 

ring  determined  generally,  that  if  they  could  not  join 
their  oppressed  fellow  subjects,  they  would  not  oppose 
them.  Some  ended  their  days  in  peace  and  obscurity 
abroad ; others  improved  the  opportunities  which  they 
afterwards  had  to  render  important  services  to  the  sol- 
diers of  liberty  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies, 
and  returned  afterwards  to  remain  here. 

The  Maryland  regiment  under  major  Gist,  the  col- 
onel and  lieutenant  colonel  being  on  courts  martial  or 
otherwise  absent  on  duty,  was  engaged  with  the  British 
at  their  landing  on  Long  Island  on  the  twenty  seventh 
of  August,  and  lost  in  killed,  wounded  and  taken  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men.  . In  the  flying  camp  there 
entered  the  army  from  this  town  and  county,  Messrs. 
Howard,  Hamilton,  W.  Sterett,  James  Winchester,  G. 
Winchester,  Ewing,  Moore,  Croxall,  Norwood,  Oldham, 
Colegate,  Cromwell,  Wilmott,  Toole,  Riley  and 
McCabe,  who  recruited  men  in  the  town  and  its  vicinity, 
The  American  army  obliged  to  abandon  New  York, 
were  joined  by  the  flying  camp,  including  the  Mary- 
land quota,  and  several  companies  raised  for  the  defence 
of  the  state,  called  independent  companies.  These  com- 
panies with  the  first  regiment  under  colonel  Smallwood 
himself  at  White  Plains,  occupying  a post  on  the  right, 
were  attacked  on  the  twenty  eighth  of  October,  and  lost 
above  one  hundred  men,  but  the  regiment  covered  the 
retreat  of  the  army  to  Trenton. 

The  organization  of  the  troops  was  so  defective  in 
many  respects  and  the  terms  of  enlistment  having  near- 
ly ran  out,  they  were  disbanded;  the  officers  of  the  regi- 
ment and  flying  camp  generally  with  those  of  the  inde- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1776. 


pendent  companies  entered  into  the  brigade  to  which 
colonel  Smallwood  was  promoted  the  year  after.  The 
brigade  was  formed  of  seven  regiments.  To  it  was  at* 
tached  some  German  and  ribe  companies;  in  the  former 
of  which  Messrs.  Peter  Mackenheimer,  George  P. 
Keeports,  John  Lohra,  Christian  Myers,  Samuel 
Gerock,  John  Lindenberger,  John  Mackenheimer^ 
John  Ritter  and  George  Cole  held  commissions; 
Messrs.  Nathaniel  Smith,  John  Fulford  and  Alexander 
Furnival  commanded  artillery  companies,  and  Messrs. 
N.  R.  Moore,  D.  Plunket,  R.  Smith  of  W.  and  D. 
Hopkins  took  commissions  in  the  cavalry. 

The  convention  met  on  the  fourteenth  of  August  to 
form  a constitution,  allowed  to  the  town  its  representa- 
tion of  two  members,  as  it  still  enjoys.  Mr.  Chase 
endeavoured  to  procure  a provision  for  an  increase, 
which  he  so  confidently  looked  for  that  he  agreed  that 
the  town  should  lose  the  two  they  allowed  it  upon  be- 
coming less  populous  by  one  half  than  any  county,  if 
the  convention  would  allow  four  members  when  the 
town  should  have  become  as  populous  as'  any  county; 
but  it  being  moved  to  divide  the  proposition,  the  ques- 
tion was  taken  on  the  first  clause  and  carried  without 
a division,  and  though  the  last  clause  was  so  amended, 
that  to  have  the  increased  delegation  the  population  of 
the  town  should  be  equal  to  that  of  the  largest  county, 
it  was  negatived  by  a vote  of  thirty  seven  to  fourteen. 
It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Chase  was  so  disappointed,  that 
he  retired,  or  that  advantage  was  taken  of  accidental 
absence  on  the  question,'  and  as  Mr.  Sheppard  was  sick 
and  absent  with  leave  the  yeas  included  only  four  mem- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


1 776.] 


73 


bers  of  the  town  and  county.  Thus  we  find  some  of 
*that  jealousy  of  the  town  which  was  manifested  by  the 
provincial  legislature  thirty  years  before,  operating  with 
a patriotic  convention,  as  it  still  does  with  a republican 
assembly,  to  exclude  the  people  of  Baltimore  from 
means  which  other  Americans  possess  to  secure  their 
rights  and  promote  their  happiness. 

However,  the  convention  finding  that  the  private  arm- 
ed vessels  of  the  port,  and  amongst  others  the  Enter- 
prise, captain  Campbell;  Sturdy  Beggar,  McKeel;  Har- 
lequin, Handy;  Fox,  George  Buchanan,  &c.  would 
soon  bring  in  enemy’s  property  for  adjudication,  estab- 
lished a court  of  Admiralty,  appointing  Benj.  Nicholson 
Esq.  judge,  David  Stewart  Esq.  marshal,  and  Wm.  Gib- 
son Esq.  register,  and  before  their  adjournment  suspend- 
ed the  levies  to  reimburse  the  loans  made  for  the  Alms 
house  and  roads,  ordering  the  sums  collected  to  be  cre- 
dited the  citizens  of  the  town  and  county  in  their 
common  county  charges.  The  balance  of  these  loans 
was  exhibited  by  a committee  of  the  assembly,  at 
$18,478  in  1817,  notwithstanding  the  suspension, 
which  otherwise,  might  have  been  paid  in  depreciated 
paper,  and  if  any  levies  remained  in  the  sherilf’s  hands, 
his  property  fell  to  the  state  under  the  confiscation  act 
afterwards  passed  and  out  of  the  reach  of  the  county 
authorities. 

Congress  assembled  in  Baltimore  on  the  twenty  sixth 
of  December  and  occupied  Mr.  Jacob  Fite’s  house  at 
the  south  east  corner  of  Baltimore  and  Liberty  streets, 
being  then  the  farthest  west  and  one  of  the  largest  built 
in  the  town  and  was  a long  time  palled  Congress  Hall. 

• 10 


74  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [Ill 6. 

Philadelphia,  from  whence  congress  adjourned,  was 
then  rescued  by  the  capture  of*  the  Hessians  at  Trentorf 
on  the  same  clay,  and  the  attack  of  the  British  at 
-Princeton  eight  days  after,  so  happily  planned  by  gen- 
eral Washington  and  so  boldly  executed  by  the  troops, 
including  part  of  the  Maryland  line  under  his  command. 

The  establishment  of  the  new  government  was  at- 
tended by  no  internal  difficulties  of  importance.  Charles 
Carroll,  Esq.  Barrister,  of  Mount  Clare,  one  of  the 
late  convention  and  council  of  safety,  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  first  senate  of  the  state,  and  the  town 
and  county  respectively  returned  the  delegates  who 
had  represented  them  in  the  convention.  Mr.  Carrolfy 
barrister,  was  also  appointed  chief  justice  of  the  gene- 
ral court  but  did  not  accept. 

Most  of  the  gentlemen  who  were  in  the  commission 
of  the  county  and  town  ^vere  reappointed  county  jus- 
tices by  the  new  government.  Andrew  Buchanan  Esq. 
being  the  presiding  justice  was  also  lieutenant  of  the  j 
county,  and  in  that  capacity  commanding  the  militia. 

Seven  of  the  justices  were  constituted  an  Orphans 
court  and  Thomas  Jones  Esq.  register  of  Wills. — 
Thomas  Jennings  Esq.  w^as  appointed  Attorney  General,  i 
but  declining,  was  succeeded  by  James  Tilghman  and 
B.  Galloway  Esq.  successively  and  in  1 778  Luther 
Martin  Esq.  being  appointed,  settled  in  Baltimore.  In 
the  mean  time  W.  Gibson  Esq.  is  appointed  clerk  of 
the  county  court.  Mr.  Law  son  former  county  clerk, 
retiring  to  the  Eastern  Shore,  returned  after  the  revo  j 
lution  and  resided  here  until  his  death.  Mr.  Boberf 


1777.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  7S 

Christie,  appointed  sheriff  in  1774,  was  superseded,  of 
course,  and  at  the  election  held  agreeably  to  the  consti- 
tution, Henry  Stevenson  Esq.  was  returned  and  duly 
commissioned  for  that  office  under  the  new  government. 
In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Christie  was  compelled  to  leave 
the  town,  but,  declaring  that  the  public  was  indebted  to 
him,  appointed  Mr.  Moses  Galloway  to  settle  his  affairs, 
and  went  to  England. 

The  jurisdiction  of  justices  of  the  peace,  in  matters 
of  debt  out  of  court  was  extended  from  fifty  shillings 
to  five  pounds  or  thirteen  dollars  thirty  three  and  one 
third  cents;  a new  list  of  Tobacco  fees  was  enacted, 
and  the  money  fixed  at  seven  shillings  and  six  pence  per 
dollar,  as  it  was  in  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Jersey 
and  current  here  sometime.  The  vendue  or  auction 
business  was  carried  on  by  Mr.  James  Long  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Brereton  acted  as  a broker,  neither  of  whom 
were  subject  to  license  as  yet. 

The  collection  of  duties  which  had  been  prevented 
by  the  times  was  formally  suspended  in  1777  except 
the  duty  on  imported  slaves.  Levies  were  made  as 
usual  but  most  of  the  public  expenses  being  for  military 
purposes,  were  defrayed  by  paper  money  of  the  state  or 
confederacy,  and  in  a year  or  two  the  money  depreciated, 
so  that  the  sums  levied  bore  no  proportion  to  the  prices 
of  goods  and  necessary  expenditures. 

The  committee  of  observation  being  superseded  by 
the  officers  of  the  new  government,  and  fears  being 
entertained  by  some,  that  the  ordinary  course  of  law 
would  be  inefficient  to  secure  the  triumph  of  liberty, 
there  was  a private  society  called  the  Whig  Club* 


76  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1777. 

ganized  this  year,  to  detect  violatcrs  of  the  laic , as  they 
declared, which  v£xed  the  citizens  unnecessarily  perhaps. 

The  pacific  doctrine  of  the  Methodists  like  that  of 
the  Quakers,  caused  the  English  preachers  amongst 
them,  to  be  suspected  of  dangerous  political  views,  and 
Mr.  Asbury  himself  was  taken  near  town  and  fined,  and 
afterwards  going  over  the  bay,  quit  preaching  and  lived 
in  retirement  in  Delaw  are  some  time.  The  consciem 
tious  scruples  of  the  ministers  of  the  late  establishment, 
relative  to  the  form  of  prayer  for  the  new  instead  of  the 
old  government,  of  the  Quakers,  Methodists,  preachers 
and  others,  subject  them  to  pay  the  treble  tax  imposed 
on  non- jurors,  or  leave  the  country,  as  most  of  the  rec- 
tors and  ministers  of  the  establishment  did. 

Mr.  Goddard  the  printer,  became  obnoxious  for  the 
freedom  of  his  remarks,  and  wras- constantly  alarmed,  and 
the  interference  of  the  club  in  his  case,  was  formally  cen- 
sured by  the  legislature  during  the  first  session,  and  Go- 
vernor Johnson  issued  a proclamation  for  his  protection. 

By  the  act  of  April  session  1777,  the  number  of 
troops  of  all  arms,  to  be  furnished  by  the  state  consisted 
of  2902  men  to  be  taken  from  each  county  in  proportion 
to  its  number  of  militia.  Frederick  county  was  to  fur- 
nish 309,  being  the  most  populous,  and  Calvert  the 
least  74,  Baltimore  county  including  the  town,  w as 
to  furnish  281,  which  was  between  a tenth  and 
eleventh  part  of  the  whole  number  from  the  then  eight- 
teen  counties  of  the  state.  It  seems  that  the  proportion 
of  men  and  money  w hich  the  state  was  required  to  fur- 
nish for  the  general  defence,  w as  about  the  same,  that  is 
to  say,  one  tenth  or  nearly  of  the  whole. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


77 


1777.] 

A great  part  of  the  Maryland  line,  under  general 
Sullivan,  was  in  the  attack  on  Staten  Island,  22d  Au- 
gust, ’77,  and  in  some  lesser  engagements  in  the  Jersies. 
soon  after. 

On  the  2 1 st  August,  Lord  Howe’s  fleet  anchored  near 
the  mouth  of  Patapsco  river,  but  proceeded  to  Turkey 
Point,  on  Elk  river,  near  which  the  British  army  under 
Sir  William  Howe  was  landed.  The  governor  issued 
a proclamation  the  next  day,  ordering  two  full  compa- 
nies of  each  batallion  of  militia  to  march  immediately  to 
the  head  of  the  bay  where  the  continental  army  would 
meet  the  enemy. 

The  independent  company  now  under  captain  John 
Sterett,  trained  as  infantry,  mounted  their  own  horses, 
proceeded  to  watch  the  enemy  on  the  bay  side,  and  arriv- 
ing before  them  at  the  head  of  it,  joined  the  main  army 
including  the  Maryland  line  near  Newport,  but  were 
then  ordered  back  by  the  commander  in  chief  to  assist 
in  protecting  their  homes. 

On  the  1 1th  September  was  fought  the  battle  of 
Brandywine,  at  which  the  Maryland  line  was  present 
and  shared  the  disasters  of  the  day. 

General  Smallwood,  with  Maryland  militia,  including 
captains  Sterett,  Cox  and  Bailey’s  companies  from  Bal- 
more,  joined  General  Wayne  the  21st  September,  im- 
mediately after  Grey’s  sanguinary  night  attack  on 
the  Americans  at  the  Paoli. 

Those  companies  in  which  many  citizens  who  left  nu- 
merous families,  dispersed  about  the  country  or  exposed 
to  the  depredations  of  the  maritime  forces  of  the  enemy 
in  the  bay,  went  in  the  ranks  volunteers,  shared  in  the 


78 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1777. 

route  of  Wayne  and  in  the  more  equal  conflict  at  Ger- 
mantown 4th  of  October,  at  which  place  the  patriotic 
Cox  with  several  of  his  townsmen,  laid  down  their 
lives  in  their  country’s  cause. 

At  the  same  time  colonel  Smith  commanding  a small 
detachment  of  continental  troops  at  fort  Mifflin  with  the 
aid  of  commodore  Hazlewood’s  flotilla,  in  which  lieuten- 
ant Barney  then  served,  was  successfully  opposing  the 
passage  of  Howe’s  fleet,  which  had  returned  from  the 
Chesapeake  into  Delaware,  for  which  congress  voted  the 
colonel  a sword ; however,  the  fort  was  not  long  tenable 
and  it  was  abandoned,  some  days  after  he  had  been 
wounded  and  retired  across  the  river. 

The  gloom  occasioned  by  the  passage  of  the  fleet 
to  Philadelphia  was  soon  reversed,  and  confidence 
generally  and  forever  restored,  by  the  new  s which  arriv- 
ed here  on  the  21st  October,  of  the  success  of  General 
Gates  at  Saratoga  and  the  surrender  of  General  Bur- 
goyne  and  his  whole  army  four  days  before. 

It  w as  now  found  that  topsail  schooners,  sailing  best 
upon  a wind  and  adapted  to  the  use  of  swreeps  in  chas- 
ing, were  most  likely  to  escape  the  heavy  ships  of  the 
enemy. 

Amongst  the  first  of  the  kind  fitted  out  here  was  the 
Antelope,  built  at  N.  Point  creek  by  Mr.  J.  Pearce  for 
Messrs.  John  Sterett  and  others,  and  armed  with  four- 
teen guns,  under  the  command  of  captain  Jeremiah  Yel 
lott,  who  was  himself  an  Englishman  lately  settled  in 
Baltimore,  which  made  a great  many  narrow7  escapes 
and  some  captures,  but  always  fortunate  voyages.  The 
Felicity,  commanded  by  captain  Frederick  Folger,  w ho 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


1777.] 


79 


had  been  first  officer  of  the  Antelope  was  scarcely  less 
successful.  However,  the  ship  Buckskin,  captain  Johns, 
who  had  the  commission  of  a lieutenant  in  the  navy  from 
congress  afterwards;  the  Nonsuch,  captain  C.  Wells 
and  some  other  vessels,  safely  went  to  and  returned  from 
France. 

A part  of  a committee  of  congress  then  at  Little  York, 
constituting  a navy  board,  of  which  William  Smith, 
Esq.  was  a member,  assembled  here.  The  Virginia  fri- 
gate of  28  guns,  w as  built  at  the  point,  wrest  side  of  the 
public  wharf,  by  Mr.  Wells,  and  put  under  the  command 
of  captain  Nicholson,  but  being  chased  by  the  enemy 
31st  December,  1777,  wras  run  on  the  middle  ground  and 
aken.  Capt.  Nicholson  escaped  in  the  ship’s  barge, 
but  lieutenant  Barney  with  his  brother  William,  who 
was  an  officer  of  the  paarines,  and  the  rest  of  the  crew 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

William  Buchanan,  Esq.  was  appointed  by  congress* 
commissary  general  of  purchases  for  the  continental  ar- 
my, James  Calhoun  Esq.  his  deputy  made  purchases 
of  supplies  here  andN.  Rogers  Esq.  became  an  aid 
of  General  Ducoudrais  and  afterward  of  General  De 
Kalb. 

In  this  year  died  at  an  advanced  age,  at  his  seat  in  the 
county,  Cornelius  Howard  Esq.  who  laid  out  that  part 
of  the  town,  called  Howard’s  Hill,  leaving  three  sons,, 
the  eldest  of  whom  was  colonel  John  E.  How  ard,  and 
two  daughters. 


Early  in  1778,  count  Pulaski’s  legion  of  cavalry  and 
infantry,  raised  partly  in  this  state,  w as  organized  hero. 


80 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1778. 

The  corps  suffered  severely  in  Jersey  in  the  same  year, 
and  the  next  lost  their  gallant  commander  in  Geoigia. 

On  the  twenty  eighth  June  the  British  were  unsuc- 
cessfully attacked  but  finally  retired  from  the  fields  of 
Monmouth  in  Jersey,  where  the  Maryland  line  shared 
the  danger  and  the  glory  of  the  day. 

In  the  militia  of  the  town  Messrs.  John  McClellan, 
Benjamin  Griffith,  George  Lindenberger,  James  Cal- 
houn, Daniel  Bowley,  Mark  Alexander,  Stephen 
Stewart,  James  Young,  Isaac  Griest,  Britm.  Dickin- 
son, Henry  Schaeffe,  and  George  Wells  held  comm  is 
sions,  most  of  whom  had  been  at  camp  with  captains 
Moore,  Sterett,  Cox,  or  Bailey.  They  were  often  on 
duty,  as  may  be  supposed,  and  on  one  or  two  occasions, 
they  assembled  courts  .martial  in  Baltimore  for  the 
trial  of  offences  against  military  law,  but  none  capital 
occurred . 

On  the  organization  of  the  court  of  appeals  Thomas 
Jones  Esq.  was  appointed  one  of  the  judges,  and  Wil- 
liam Buchanan  Esq.  youngest  son  of  doctor  George 
Buchanan,  deceased,  succeeds  to  the  office  of  Register 
of  Wills  the  next  year  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Jones. 

British  goods  having  become  scarce,  several  manu 
factures,  which  had  been  prohibited  in  the  colonies, 
were  now  established  in  or  near  this  town:  Among 

others  a bleach  yard  by  Mr.  Riddle;  a linen  factory 
by  Mr.  McFadon;  a paper  mill  by  Mr.  Goddard;  a 
slitting  mill  by  Mr.  Whetcroft;  a card  factory  by 
Mr.  McCabe;  a wroollen  and  linen  factory  by  Mr. 
Charles  Carroll;  a Nail  factory  each  by  Mr.  Geo. 
Matthews  and  Mr.  Richardson  Stewart ; Mr.  Charles 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


81 


1778] 

Williams  carried  on  the  Dyeing  business,  and  Mr. 
William  Stenson,  who  had  sometime  kept  a coffee 
house  near  the  corner  of  Holliday  and  East,  now 
Fayette  streets,  opened  another  on  a modern  and 
extensive  scale,  at  the  south  west  corner  of  South 
and  Baltimore  streets. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  too,  a treaty  of  alliance 
was  made  with  France,  and,  soon  after  the  British  left 
Philadelphia  a large  fleet  under  count  D’Estaing  made 
its  appearance  off  Chincoteague  on  this  coast. 

The  British  appear  to  have  abandoned  much  of  their 
hopes  of  reducing  the  States  by  force  and  offered  terms 
which  would  have  been  accepted  three  years  before. 
On  the  other  hand  the  Americans,  who  had  suffered 
severely  for  want  of  camp  equipage  and  materials  of 
war  as  well  as  in  battle,  considered  themselves  relieved 
from  great  exertions,  by  the  arrival  of  the  French  and 
the  certainty  of  effectual  aid  of  their  forces,  and  a period 
of  langour  succeeded  which  was  not  favorable  to  general 
improvement, while  the  depreciation  of  the  current  money 
and  the  absence  of  Messrs.  Howard,  Rogers  and  other 
gentlemen  of  landed  property,  who  had  gone  from  our 
town  to  join  the  army,  contributed,  no  doubt,  to  retard 
its  progress  here.  It  was,  however,  in  the  middle  of  the 
war  arrived  and  settled  here,  Messrs.  Richard  Curson, 
William  Patterson,  Robert  Gilmor,  Charles  Torrence, 
Andrew  Boyd,  Aaron  Levering,  Henry  Payson,  Joseph 
Williams,  Peter  Frick,  George  Reinecker,  Michael 
Diffenderffer,  Christopher  Raborg,  John  Leypold, 
Abraham  Sitler,  George  Heide,  John  Shultze,  Baltzcr 

11 


82 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1778 

Schaeffer  and  others,  who,  by  their  wealth,  credit  and 
enterprize  contributed  to  revive  the  business  of  the 
place. 

On  the  4th  February,  1779,  Mr.  Sterett’s  extensive 
brewery,  with  the  warehouse  on  the  south  west  corner 
of  Frederick  and  Second  streets,  then  occupied  by  Mr. 
Hugh  Young,  were  set  on  fire  designedly  as  wras  sup- 
posed, and  both  entirely  consumed. 

The  Episcopal  congregation  had  increased  so  much 
as  early  as  1762,  as  to  require  a chapel  of  ease  and 
one  was  erected  at  a place  called  TL,  near  the  head  of 
Middle  River:  about  the  same  time  that  additional  lots 
were  purchased  in  town  for  the  use  of  the  parish.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Chase,  who  wTas  above  thirty  years 
rector  of  St.  Paul’s  parish,  and  the  last  appointed  by  the 
Proprietary,  died  the  4th  of  April  1779,  aged  79  years, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  William  West  was  chosen  to  succeed 
him  by  the  vestry,  when  a new  church  w^as  erected  in 
front  of  the  old  one,  and  a law  procured  to  open  the 
street  in  front  of  it,  called  New  Church,  now  Lexington 
street,  on  the  south  side  of  which  the  vestry  leased  out 
lots.  Early  in  1779,  the  Maryland  line  was  formed 
into  twro  brigades,  the  second  of  which  was  put  under 
command  of  colonel  Gist,  promoted  brigadier  general, 
and  doctor  McHenry  became  a secretary  to  the  com- 
mander in  chief. 

Benjamin  Nicholson,  Esq.  colonel  of  the  town  mili- 
tia, resigned  the  command  to  colonel  Smith.  This 
being  the  only  corps  kept  up  after  the  peace,  sustained 
that  military  spirit  which  was  infused  into  the  5th  and 


83 


1779.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 

other  regiments  and  which  the  militia  of  Baltimore  have 
so  lately  displayed. 

On  the  9th  July  some  of  the  people,  offended  at  Mr- 
Goddard  for  the  part  he  took  in  favor  of  general  Charles 
Lee  after  the  decision  of  the  court  martial  which  sus- 
pended that  officer,  Mr.  Goddard  was  persuaded  to  sign 
a public  recantation,  which  he  afterwards  disclaimed  but 
saved  himself  by  it  from  personal  abuse ; from  which, 
however,  one  or  two  persons  who  defended  him  did 
not  escape,  as  they  were  put  into  the  cart  intended 
for  him  and  carried  about  the  streets. 

A society  was  formed  by  the  principal  merchants, 
and  contributions  made  by  them  in  October  to  the 
amount  of  93,000  pounds  to  be  employed  in  reducing 
the  price  of  salt  by  retail,  which  article  they  bought 
and  sold  at  about  forty  five  pounds,  or  120  dollars  per 
bushel,  paper  money,  reserving  only  the  expenses. 

The  enemy  sent  a small  force  into  the  bay  under 
general  Matthews,  and  the  town  assembled  its  forces 
again,  under  general  Buchanan,  who  was  also  about 
this  time  chosen  to  fill  a vacancy  in  the  senate,  but  did 
not  aceept.  Matthews  landed  at  Portsmouth  but  came 
not  much  further  then. 

David  McMechen  and  Mark  Alexander,  Esqrs.  suc- 
ceeded Messrs  Smith  and  Chase  as  delegates  and 
Joseph  Baxter  Esq.  is  elected  sheriff  in  place  of  Mr.  Ste- 
venson wdiose  time  had  expired. 

Died  here,  while  on  a visit  to  his  relatives,  on  the  5th 
September,  Edward  Biddle,  Esq.  one  of  the  representa* 
:ives  in  congress  from  Pennsylvania. 


81 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1780. 

As  long  as  the  navigation  was  obstructed  by  ice, 
which  was  until  the  9th  of  March,  the  winter  of 
1779  to  80  being  more  severe  than  any  noticed  at  this 
place  before,  the  suffering  poor  were  relieved  at  their 
own  houses  by  distributions  of  meal  and  fuel ; a consid- 
erable amount,  say  9000/.  being  subscribed  by  the  more 
fortunate  inhabitants. 

Hitherto  the  merchants  of  Baltimore  had  been  oblig- 
ed to  get  registers,  and  enter  and  clear  vessels  at  Anna- 
polis, but  the  custom  house  is  now  opened,  and  Thomas 
Sollers,  Esq.  naval  officer,  was  authorised  to  grant 
registers  for  vessels  here. 

The  two  years  for  which  the  old  customs  were  sus- 
pended, having  elapsed,  duties  were  laid  on  enumerated 
articles  again,  in  real  money,  viz.  spirits  two  pence  per 
gallon,  Madeira  wine  four  pence,  other  wines  two  pence, 
coffee  and  cocoa  one  shilling  per  one  hundred  weight, 
loaf  sugar  one  shilling  and  six  pence,  domestic  liquor 
one  shilling,  negroes  from  other  provinces  thirteen 
pounds,  abroad  five  hundred  pounds,  a prohibition;  and 
on  exports,  tobacco  five  shillings  per  hhd,  pig  iron  three 
shillings  and  nine  pence,  and  bar  fifteen  shillings  per  ton. 

There  appears  to  have  entered  in  one  week  in  May, 
one  brig  from  France,  one  ship,  three  brigs  and  five 
schooners  from  the  West  Indies. 

The  legislature  also  made  provision  for  the  defence 
of  the  bay  by  equipping  one  large  galley,  one  sloop  or 
schooner  and  four  large  barges,  and  for  recruiting  the 
army,  besides  calling  out  1200  militia  volunteers,  which 
forces  were  encreased  the  following  years  by  four  gal- 
lies  and  eight  barges.  The  men  were  to  be  paid  at  the 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


8a 


1780.] 

rate  of  half  a dollar  per  day,  in  real  money,  by  the  state 
which  received  itself,  the  public  dues  in  cattle,  grain, 
& c.  which  were  often  taken  by  appraisement  at  this  pe- 
riod. The  state  provided  for  its  own  troops  in  the  con- 
tinental army  as  wTell  as  it  could,  first  by  new  bills  of 
credit,  to  the  amount  of  nearly  $J, 000,000,  besides 
the  state’s  quota  of  continental  at  least  20,000,000  more, 
which  were  redeemed  by  new  bills  called  black  money, 
at  forty  for  one. 

Internal  improvements  received  some  aid  by  the  sales 
of  many  valuable  lots  in  town  and  estates  in  the  neigh- 
borhood confiscated,  which  were  in  the  first  instance  to 
be  paid  for,  one  fifth  in  specie  and  four  fifths  in  the 
black  money.  Even  these  bills  depreciated  to  six  or 
seven  for  one,  but  delays  attended  the  payments,  and 
the  red  money  created  the  next  year,  for  the  redemption 
of  the  black , fell  at  first  to  two  or  three  for  one,  but  soon 
recovered,  and  sustained  its  credit,  because  there  was 
actually  a greater  amount  of  property  sold,  than  the  sum 
in  circulation. 

Matthew  Ridley,  Esq.  of  the  house  of  Ridley  and 
Pringle,  was  authorised  to  borrow  and  negociated  a 
loan  in  Holland  for  the  use  of  the  state. 

In  consequence  of  the  purchase  of  Fotterall’s  estate 
-near  town,  a contest  arose  for  the  mill  property,  which 
had  been  sold  by  his  administrators  forty  years  before, 
and  it  was  decided  after  ten  years  litigation,  that  the  fee 
simple  property  so  disposed  of,  including  the  old  mill 
on  Bath  street,  should  go  to  the  purchasers  under  the 
confiscation  act. 

Of  the  number  of  fifty  six  debtors  to  British  mer- 


86 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1780. 

chants  or  manufacturers,  who  paid  the  amount  of  their 
debts  into  the  treasury  of  the  state  in  depreciated  mo- 
ney, there  were  but  four  or  five  residents  of  Baltimore 
town  and  county,  and  these  were  actuated  by  feelings 
which  their  patriotism  inspired  more  than  a desire  to 
avoid  a payment,  for  the  merchants  here  generally,  con- 
demned the  measure  and  memorialised  the  legislature 
against  its  adoption.  Those  few  who  had  not  paid  be- 
fore prohibited  in  1776,  paid  eventually,  the  full  amount 
without  the  intervention  of  the  courts  of  justice  to  en- 
force the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  on  the 
subject. 

Such  were  the  difficulties  attending  the  transition  of 
one  currency  to  another,  that  seizures  of  provisions,  for 
the  troops  were  authorised,  which,  in  ordinary  times 
would  have  been  intolerable,  and  the  rate  of  the  levy 
which,  in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  had  been  fixed  at 
one  fourth  of  the  whole  valuation  of  taxable  property, 
was  reduced  to  one  and  an  half  per  cent,  with  the  option 
of  paying  in  Wheat  at  seven  shillings  and  sixpence, 
Tobacco  at  twenty  shillings,  &c.  and  a scale  of  deprecia- 
tion for  the  settlement  of  public  and  private  contracts 
was  established  on  equitable  principles. 

General  Lincoln  had  been  obliged  to  surrender 
Charleston  12th.  May,  1780,  and  the  three  southern 
states  seemed  to  have  been  entirely  lost  to  the  union, 
when  general  Gates  took  command  of  the  southern 
army,  including  all  the  troops  from  Delaware  and 
Maryland  south,  and  notwithstanding  the  determined 
valour  of  these  troops,  the  disasters  at  Camden  and 
other  places,  where  the  Maryland  line  suffered  severely, 


1780.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  87 

made  it  necessary  to  recall  major  general  Gates  and 
place  that  department  under  the  command  of  major  gen- 
eral Nathaniel  Greene.  The  new  commander  in  chief 
of  the  southern  army  passed  through  town  with  M. 
general  baron  Steuben  6th  of  November.  On  the  27th. 
Mrs.  Washington  passes  to  the  north  and  the  ladies  of 
Baltimore  raise  contributions  for  the  soldiers,  going  to 
camp.  By  an  accident  which  happened  in  trying  can- 
non at  Northampton  furnace,  several  persons  wrerc 
wounded  and  captain  Fulford  of  the  artillery,  was 
unfortunately  killed. 

The  mercury  ranged  within  doors  and  in  the  day  time, 
from  ninety  to  ninety  seven  degrees  of  Farenheit  from 
the  fifth  to  the  tenth  July,  the  first  day  ninety  three  and 
the  last  ninety  seven. 

Early  in  1781,  we  learned  the  joyful  news  of  the 
success  at  the  Cowpens,  rendered  Still  more  acceptable 
to  the  people  of  Baltimore,  by  the  conspicuous  part  colo 
nel  Howard  had  in  the  victory,  and  for  which  he  was 
voted  by  congress  the  compliment  of  a silver  medal. 
In  March  an  association  wras  entered  into  here  to 
circulate  the  new  paper  at  par  value,  and  in  August,  a 
committee  of  the  associators  exercised  the  authority 
they  had  assumed,  by  holding  up  to  public  vieu\ 
through  the  Gazettes,  one  of  their  number  who  had 
attempted  to  take  for  his  goods  four  times  the  price  at 
which  the  same  would  be  sold  in  specie.  Arnold 
and  Phillips  landed  in  Virginia,  and  the  enemy  ships 
traversed  the  Bay  to  its  head,  burning  and  plundering 
on  both  sides,  and  on  the  twenty  sixth  April,  six  ships 


88 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1781 

then  at  North  Point,  the  citizens  assembled  and  ap- 
pointed Messrs.  James  McHenry,  Nathaniel  Smith, 
Nicholas  Rogers,  W.  Smith,  I.  Greist,  T.  Henderson, 
and  Thomas  Johnson  a committee  to  prepare  for  defence. 

On  the  14th  of  June  the  volunteer  troop  of  cavalry  of 
town  gentlemen,  of  which  captain  N.  R.  Moore  was 
commander,  set  off  to  join  the  army  under  the  Mar- 
quis De  Lafayette  in  Virginia,  and  having  performed 
the  tour  of  duty  required,  returned  to  town  the  fourth 
of  August. 

It  was  in  this  year  Fell’s  Prospect  wras  first  laid  off 
by  the  commissioners,  and  added  to  the  town,  on  the  east, 
and  the  eighteen  acres  of  Messrs.  Moale  and  Steiger  ly- 
ing between  Bridge,  now  Gay,  and  French  streets,  for 
which  authority  had  been  given  eight  years  before. 

The  weight  of  Flour  per  barrel  w as  nowr  fixed  at  the  pre- 
sent standard  of  one  hundred  and  ninety  six  pounds 
nett,  with  some  other  regulations  respecting  that  staple. 

Messrs.  John  Corntlrwait,  Gerard  Hopkins,  George 
Mathews,  John  and  David  Brown,  and  others  of  the 
society  of  Friends,  who  until  nowr  had  held  their  meet- 
ings at  the  house  on  the  Harford  road,  buy  a spacious 
lot  and  build  a meeting  house  between  Baltimore  and 
Pitt  streets,  where  they  inter  their  deceased  members. 

On  the  eighth  of  September  1781,  w^as  fought  at  Eu- 
iawr,  the  last  severe  battle  of  the  war,  where  part  of 
the  Maryland  troops  under  Colonel  Williams,  signa- 
lized themselves  again.  Here  they  lost  Captains  Dob- 
son and  Edgerly,  and  Lieutenants  Duvall  and  Gould, 
killed,  and  Colonel  Howard,  Capt.  Gibson,  Capt.  Lieut 
Huo-on,  Lieuts.  Ewdng,  Woolford  and  Lynn  and  ensign^-l 

©7  C*  * 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


89 


1781.] 

Moore  were  wounded,  besides  a number  of  Infantry 
and  artillery  men.  Many  of  our  officers  including  capts. 
Plunket,  and  Sterett  and  Dr  McHenry  had  been  made 
prisoners  and  subjected  to  the  hardships  of  that  state, 
but  were  duly  exchanged  or  escaped  by  their  address. 
According  to  the  dispensations  of  a blessed  Provi- 
dence, not  one  officer  who  had  gone  into  the  army  from 
this  town  or  county  had  yet  died  in  the  enemy’s  hands 
or  fallen  in  the  field  of  battle  during  this  sanguinary 
contest.  It  was  only  at  the  moment  when  peace  was 
about  to  crown  their  gallant  exertions,  in  an  engagement 
at  James  Island  where  there  were  but  few  men  on  either 
side,  Lieutenant  Wilmot  of  the  county,  closed  an  hon- 
orable carreer. 

Lord  Cornwallis  continuing  his  march  to  the 
northward  was  met  in  Virginia  by  detachments  of 
the  main  army  under  Generals  La  Fayette  and  Wayne, 
some  of  which  passed  through  Baltimore,  and  the 
French  fleet  under  the  Count  De  Grasse  having  entered 
the  Bay,  General  Washington  suddenly  quit  the  main 
army  and  arrived  before  York  town,  where  the  British 
were  immediately  invested.  General  Washington  ac- 
companied by  the  count  Rochambeau,  general  Hand, 
major  general  baron  Viomenil,  brigadier  general  Cha- 
telux  and  Gen.  Clinton  passed  through  town  the  eighth 
September,  most  of  the  allied  army  going  by  water 
from  Elkton  to  Annapolis.  On  this  occasion  the 
town  was  illuminated  and  the  following  address  and 
answer  was  published  soon  after, 


12 


90 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1781. 

His  Excellency  George  Washington  Esq.  General 
and  commander  in  chief  of  the  armies  of  the  United 
States  of  America. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency, — The  citizens  and 
inhabitants  of  Baltimore,  impressed  with  the  warmest 
sentiments  of  respect  and  esteem,  and  with  the  most 
lively  sense  of  the  important  services,  rendered  by  you 
to  them  and  their  country,  beg  leave  through  us,  to 
congratulate  your  excellency  upon  your  arrival  in  this 
town,  and  to  express  the  general  joy,  diffused  through 
every  breast,  at  the  return  of  your  excellency  to  this 
place. 

It  has  been  with  the  highest  satisfaction,  we  have 
found  our  most  sanguine  expectations,  from  your  mili- 
tary talents,  exceeded  by  the  abilities  you  have  display- 
ed, during  a series  of  various  fortune,  as  well  in  the  day 
of  battle,  as  the  hour  of  distress:  your  fortitude  and 
perseverence  under  all  our  calamities,  the  wisdom  of 
your  counsels,  the  judicious  and  mild  regulation  of  the 
army,  your  sacred  attention  to  the  civil  powers  of  the 
respective  States,  and  the  great  address  with  which  our 
military  operations  have  been  conducted,  under  your 
excellency’s  direction,  demand  the  warmest  effusions  of 
gratitude  that  can  flow  from  the  hearts  of  a free  people. 

Permit  us  also  to  congratulate  your  excellency  upon 
the  many  signal  successes  that  have  lately  attended  the 
American  arms  in  the  southern  states,  obtained  with 
such  distinguished  honors  to  our  gallant  officers  and 
soldiers,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  of  our  magnani- 
mous ally,  aided  by  whose  noble  and  generous  exer- 
tions, we  look  forward,  with  pleasing  hopes,  to  the  day 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


91 


1781.] 

of  peace,  when  w^e  may  freely  enjoy  the  bounties  with 
which  all-gracious  heaven  has  enriched  our  country. 
May  your  present  operations  prove  successful,  and 
may  the  grand  work  in  which  you  are  engaged,  be  hap- 
pily terminated. 

Our  prayers  are  for  your  excellency’s  preservation, 
that  you  may  continue  approved  by  heaven,  esteemed 
by  virtuous  men,  and  dreaded  by  tyrants ; and,  on  the 
restoration  of  public  tranquility,  that  you  may,  in 
peaceful  retirement,  enjoy  that  satisfaction  of  mind, 
which  the  sense  of  great  and  noble  deeds  always  in- 
spires; and  may  posterity,  in  the  full  possession  and  ex- 
ercise of  that  freedom  which  your  sword  has  assisted 
to  establish,  venerate  and  do  ample  justice  to  your  vir- 
tue and  character  to  the  latest  ages. 

With  sentiments  of  the  most  profound  esteem  and 
respect,  we  are,  in  behalf  of  the  citizens  and  inhabi- 
tants of  Baltimore,  your  excellency’s  most  obedient  and 
most  humble  servants, 

Wm.  Smith, 

Sam’l  Purviance,  Jr.  j 

John  Moale,  > Committee. 

John  Dorsey, 

James  Calhoun.  J 

To  the  citizens  and  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Bal- 
timore. 

Gentlemen — With  the  warmest  sense  of  gratitude 
and  affection,  I accept  your  kind  congratulations  on  my 
arrival  in  this  town. 

Permit  me,  gentlemen,  to  assure  you,  that  from  the 
pleasure  which  I feel  in  having  this  opportunity  to  pay 


92 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[178L 

my  respects  to  the  worthy  inhabitants  of  the  town  of 
Baltimore,  I participate  in  your  sensations  of  joy. 

If  during  the  long  and  trying  period,  in  which  my 
services,  as  a soldier,  have  been  employed  for  the  in- 
terests  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  for  the 
establishment  of  their  rights,  I have  acquitted  myself  to 
the  acceptance  of  my  fellow-citizens:  If  my  various 

fortunes — if  my  attention  to  the  civil  powers  of  the 
states,  have  subserved  the  general  good  of  the  public — 
in  these  things  I feel  myself  happy — and  in  these  con- 
siderations, I rejoice  in  your  felicity. 

The  happy  and  eventful  successes  of  our  troops  in 
the  southern  states,  as  they* reflect  glory  on  the  Ame- 
rican arms,  and  particular  honour  on  the  gallant  offi- 
cers and  men  immediately  concerned  in  that  depart- 
ment, fills  my  heart  with  pleasure  and  delight.  The 
active  and  generous  part  our  allies  are  taking  in  our 
cause,  with  the  late  arrival  of  their  formidable  fleet  in 
the  bay  of  the  Chesapeake,  call  for  our  utmost  grati- 
tude, and  with  the  smiles  of  heaven  on  our  combined 
operations  give  us  the  happiest  presage  of  the  most 
pleasing  events — events,  which  in  their  issue,  may 
lead  to  an  honourable  and  permanent  peace. 

I thank  you  most  cordially,  for  your  prayers  and 
good  wishes  for  my  prosperity.  May  the  author  of  all 
blessings  aid  our  united  exertions  in  the  cause  of  liber- 
ty and  universal  peace — and  may  the  particular  bless- 
ing of  heaven  rest  on  you  and  the  worthy  citizens  of 
this  flourishing  town  of  Baltimore. 

I am,  gentlemen,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

Geo.  Washington. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


93 


1781.] 

On  conducting  our  brave  defenders  to  the  south- 
ward, the  marquiss  De  La  Fayette  borrowed  a con- 
siderable sum  of  money  of  the  merchants  of  Baltimore, 
which  he  employed  in  buying  materials  for  clothing 
to  be  made  up  in  part  by  the  ladies,  and  of  which  the 
repayment  was  duly  effected  some  time  after. 

On  the  1 9th  of  October,  lord  Cornwallis  capitulated, 
and  his  whole  army  being  made  prisoners,  there  re- 
mained no  .longer  any  doubt  but  that  the  independence 
of  the  states  would  soon  be  acknowledged  and  general 
peace  established.  The  citizens  were  soon  favoured 
with  opportunities  which  they  joyfully  embraced,  to 
offer  their  congratulations  to  the  commander  in  chief, 
the  marquiss  De  La  Fayette  and  others,  who  had  had 
a share  in  the  glorious  event. 

The  13th  of  December,  was  appointed  and  kept  as 
a day  of  general  thanksgiving. 

The  land  office  was  opened  by  an  act  of  assembly 
passed  this  year,  and  the  price  of  the  lands  fixed  first  at 
Is  6d,  and  afterwards,  as  the  money  became  more 
valuable,  at  half  that  sum  per  acre.  There  were  still 
many  thousand  acres  unpatented  in  the  north  west  part 
of  the  county,  and  many  considerable  vacancies 
were  discovered  in  other  parts  of  the  county  and  taken 
up  several  years  after  the  peace. 

The  period  limited  for  the  first  senate  was  now  ex- 
piring and  at  the  election  held  this  year,  Charles  Car- 
roll,  Esq.  Barrister,  was  re-elected  to  the  new  senate 
with  Messrs.  John  Smith  and  James  McHenry  of  this 
town.  Thomas  C.  Deye,  John  B.  Howard,  Charles 
Ridgely  of  William,  and  Samuel  Worthington,  Esqrs. 


94 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1781. 

were  elected  delegates  for  the  county.  Henry  Wil- 
son, Esq.  succeeded  Mr.  Alexander  as  one  of  the  mem- 
bers for  the  town. 

When  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  the  british  army 
at  York  town  reached  England,  the  Parliament  refused 
to  support  the  war  any  longer,  Mr.  Fox  was  brought 
into  the  ministry,  to  terminate  the  war,  and  negotiations 
of  the  preliminaries  commenced  by  him,  wer£  prosecut- 
ed by  Mr.  Pitt  in  the  spring  of  1782.  At  the  first  ses- 
sion of  this  year,  colonel  Howard  laid  off  part  of  the  tract 
adjoining  his  father’s  first  addition  and  that  before  made 
by  Mr.  Hall,  and  annexed  to  the  town  all  the  grounds 
east  of  the  street,  to  which  the  colonel  gave  the  name  of 
Eutaw  street.  Beyond  that  and  on  the  street  which  he 
called  Lexington  street,  he  laid  off  a spacious  lot  for 
a public  market,  which  was  improved  and  appropriated 
to  that  purpose  twenty  years  after.  The  colonel  ap- 
propriated another  spacious  lot  of  ground  on  Baltimore 
street  west  of  Eutaw,  for  the  use  of  the  state,  should 
the  general  assembly  accept  and  make  it  the  seat  of 
government  within  that  period;  though  an  effort  was 
made  to  carry  the  removal  in  the  house  of  delegates  at 
the  same  session,  it  was  rejected  by  a vote  of  twenty  to 
nineteen,  and  has  failed  as  often  as  it  was  proposed  as 
well  during  the  twenty  years  limited,  as  afterwards; 
and  whether  it  is  or  is  not  a matter  of  less  interest  to 
the  citizens,  it  is  certain  that  they  now  view  it  with 
more  indifference  than  they  do  the  proportion  of  repre< 
sentation  allowed  them. 


95 


1782.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 

Until  this  time  none  of  the  streets  of  Baltimore 
Town  except  here  and  there  on  the  side-ways,  were 
paved,  and  the  main  street  especially,  from  the  depth 
of  soil,  was  actually  impassable  some  part  of  the  spring 
and  fall  seasons,  from  the  market  house  at  Gay  street  to 
Calvert  street.  The  town  commissioners  were  there- 
fore aided  in  effecting  its  improvement,  become  indispen- 
sable, at  the  November  session,  by  the  creation  of  com- 
missioners, of  whom  there  were  seven,  called  special 
commissioners,  empowered  to  “direct  and  superintend  the 
levelling,  pitching,  paving  and  repairing  the  streets  _and 
repairing  the  bridges,”  to  begin  with  Baltimore  street, 
in  part,  and  then  from  place  to  place  as  circumstances 
required.  The  owners  of  lots  on  streets  to  be  paved,  to 
pay  $1  66^-  per  foot  front,  on  lanes  or  alleys  half  price. 
An  auction  duty  was  laid,  major  Thomas  Fates  being 
appointed  first  and  sole  auctioneer,  a tax  on  public  ex- 
hibitions, to  be  licensed  by  the  commissioners  and  33a 
cents  per  100  on  the  assessed  property,  with  an  an- 
nual Lottery  towards  defraying  the  expenses.  The 
same  law  prescribed  the  extent  of  porches  and  cellar 
doors,  the  breadth  of  carriage  wheels  and  removal  of 
nuisances  or  obstructions  in  the  streets  or  harbour. 

This  Board,  which  was  composed  in  the  first  instance 
of  Messrs.  William  Spear,  James  Sterett,  Englehard 
Yeiser,  George  Lindenberger,  Jesse  Hollingsworth, 
Thomas  Elliot  and  Peter  Hoffman,  were  made  a body 
politic  and  corporate,  authorised  to  fill  their  own  vacan- 
cies, appoint  a Treasurer,  collect  all  fines  to  the  use  of 
the  city  and  appoint  constables,  were  also  to  render 
their  accounts  to  the  Town  Commissioners,  who  now 


96 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1782. 

in  fact,  had  little  else  to  perform  and  little  more  was 
wanted  at  that  time  to  make  the  charter  complete.  But 
at  the  ensuing  session,  it  was  thought  too  much  power 
had  been  bestowed  on  a body  of  men  so  constituted  and 
provision  was  made  for  their  removal,  or  others  in  their 
place,  by  electors  to  be  chosen  every  five  years.  The 
town  commissioners  at  this  period  were  Messrs.  William 
Smith,  John  Moale,  Richard  Ridgely,  Daniel  Bowley, 
Hercules  Courtenay  and  John  Sterett. 

Mr.  Charles  Rigdely  of  John,  and  others,  at  Novem- 
ber session,  procured  the  addition  to  the  Town  of 
those  grounds  called  Gist’s  Inspection  and  Timber  neck 
lying  south  of  the  former  additions  and  upon  the  mid- 
dle branch ; and  Mr.  Benjamin  Rogers  and  others,  those 
which  lay  between  Fell’s  Prospect  and  Harris’s  creek. 
These  were  the  last  specific  additions  by  act  of  Assem- 
bly, and  the  power  given  to  the  corporation  to  admit 
other  grounds  by  the  consent  of  the  owners,  being  ex- 
ercised only  in  one  instance  relating  to  some  lots  or> 
north  Howard  street,  between  Saratoga  and  Mulberry 
streets,  no  change  of  limits  was  effected  for  many  years, 
nor  until  the  population  of  the  precincts  had  become 
equal  to  a third  of  the  City  itself. 

After  repeated  conquests  and  sometimes  the  conquer- 
ed, captain  Barney  was  made  commander  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania ship  Hyder  Alley,  mounting  1 6 sixes,  and  on 
the  5th  of  June  1782,  captured  the  British  ship  general 
Monk  of  20  nine  pounders;  on  which  occasion  the  Le- 
gislature of  that  state  presented  him  a sword,  and  the 
prize  being  purchased  and  fitted  out  by  the  naval  com- 
missioners of  the  United  States,  the  command  of  her 
then  called  the  Washington , was  given  to  him. 


1782,]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  97 

It  was  in  this  year  also,  that  Mr.  Gabriel  P.Vanhorne 
with  Mr.  Nathaniel  Twining  and  others,  established  a 
line  of  stage  Coaches  between  Philadelphia  and  Balti- 
more, which  was  secured  to  Mr.  Vanhorne  exclusively 
until  1791;  he  afterwards  extended  the  line  of  stages  to 
Alexandria. 

Count  Rochambeau  returning  with  his  army  from 
York  town  halted  in  Baltimore  and  some  of  his  troops 
remained  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

Besides  the  Cavalry  and  Infantry  of  the  legion  of 
the  Duke  De  Lauzun,  the  division  included  the  regi- 
ments of  Bourbonnois,  Deux  Ponts,  Saintonge  and 
Soissonnois.  The  officers  among  whom  were  Count 
Dillon,' ‘Baron  Viomenil,  General  Lavalette,  &c.  were 
lodged  with  private  families.  The  Legion  encamped 
on  the  ground  where  the  cathedral  stands,  and  the  rest 
of  the  troops  on  that  eminence  near  the  York  road, 
which  the  late  Mr.  John  McKim  improved  and  occu- 
pied, The  urbanity  of  the  officers  and  the  correct 
deportment  of  the  men,  established  an  intercourse  be- 
tween them  and  the  citizens  upon  terms  the  most  friend* 
ly  and  cemented  that  partiality  for  the  French  nation 
to  which  the  alliance  had  given  rise,  and  has  been  so 
often  manifested  by  the  people  of  Baltimore.  Upon 
his  departure  the  merchants  presented  an  address  to 
jjenerai  Lavalette  the  principal  officer  then  here,  ex- 
pressive of  the  above  friendly  sentiments. 

The  town  was  then  said  to  contain  8000  inhabitants, 
having  eight  places  of  worship,  viz.  Episcopalian,  Pres- 
byterian, Lutheran,  Dutch  Calvinists,  Roman  Catho- 

13 


98  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE'.  [1782. 

lies,  Baptists,  Quakers  and  Methodists,  that  is  one  for 
* each  society. 

Our  Bay  was  visited  by  ships  of  w ar  of  France  and 
England  alternately;  some  armed  barges  were  particu- 
larly troublesome  to  the  coasters.  On  the  5th  of  July, 
Captain  Simmons  in  the  Brig  Ranger,  going  out  of  the 
Patowmack,  with  his  pikes  beat  of  and  killed  Barry 
and  wrounded  Whaland,  two  famous  barge  men,  but,  on 
the  thirtieth  of  November  three  of  them  attacked  and 
after  killing  Captain  Whalley,  killing  and  wounding 
sixty  five  out  of  seventy  five  men,  the  brave  survivors 
being  w ithout  small  cartridges,  which  . had  taken  fire 
early  in  the  action,  were  captured,  w ith  the  States 
Galley.  This  was  said  to  be  and  with  great  propriety 
no  doubt,  the  most  bloody  conflict  which  had  taken 
place  during  the  wrar.  Most  of  our  vessels  were  too 
formidable  for  those  sanguinary  marauders,  and  the  let- 
ters of  marque  were  numerous  and  successful . Amongst 
others  the  Favourite,  captain  Buchanan;  Dolphin, 
Forbes;  Matilda,  Belt;  Three  Brothers,  Travers;  Iris, 
Cole,  &c. 

The  loans  obtained  abroad  and  the  payment  of  gold 
and  silver  to  the  French  troops,  procured  a supply  for 
circulation,  and  the  Bank  of  North  America  being 
opened  the  paper  was  superseded  altogether. 

Lord  North  was  removed  and  the  earl  of  Shellburne 
and  Charles  J.  Fox  first,  then  Mr.  Pitt,  his  successors, 
made  overtures  and  proposed  the  acknowledgement  of 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States.  Preliminaries 
were  signed  in  November,  and  Charleston  was  evacu- 


1 782.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  99 

ated  in  December.  In  the  mean  time  the  command  of 
the  British  army  devolved  on  Sir  Guy  Carlton. 

Samuel  Worthington  Esq.  was  elected  in  the  place 
of  Mr.  J.  B.  Howard  for  the  county,  and  William  Fell 
son  of  Edward,  Esq.  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Wilson,  late 
delegate  for  the  town,  and  William  M’Laughlin  Esq. 
was  elected  sheriff. 

Samuel  Sterett  Esq.  was  appointed  secretary  to  the 
president  of  congress. 

Died  at  Annapolis  on  the  29th  of  May,  aged  eighty 
two  years,  Charles  Carroll  Esq.  who  was  proprietor  of 
that  part  of  Cole’s  harbour  which  the  commissioners 
purchased  of  him  forty  two  years  before,  for  the  first 
town:  On  the  fourteenth  of  October,  in  this  town,  at 

an  advanced  age  Thomas  Harrison  Esq.  one  of  the 
town  commissioners  in  1745:  At  Mount  Clare  near 

town  the  23d  of  March,  CharlesCarroll,  Esq.  barrister, 
one  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  and  senators  of 
the  state;  and  on  the  30th  at  his  seat  in  the  county, 
Walter  Tolley  Esq.  formerly  a member  of  the  house  of 
delegates,  and  of  the  convention  of  1774. 

It  may  be  remarked  as  of  the  military,  that  of  the 
characters  in  civil  life  who  were  instrumental  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  our  town  and  government  none,  except 
Mr.  Cornelius  Howard,  were  removed  by  death  during 
the  eventful  period  of  the  war. 

Hostilities  wTere  suspended  11th  ot  April  1783,  by 
Congress, and  the  joyful  news  of  peace  and  independence 
was  celebrated  on  the  21st,  and  at  night  the  town  was 
illuminated.  The  first  act  of  the  Legislature  was  to 


100  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [J783. 

admit  the  entry  of  vessels  from  the  British  dominions, 
and  British  subjects  were,  for  some  months,  permitted 
to  hold  registered  shipping. 

Messrs.  Samuel  Smith,  Samuel  Purviance,  Daniel 
Bowley,  John  Sterett,  Thomas  Russell,  Richard  Ridge* 
ly,  Robert  Henderson,  Thomas  Elliott  and  William 
Patterson  were  appointed  Wardens  of  the  port  of  Balti- 
more for  five  years,  to  be  renewed  by  election  of  the 
electors  of  the  special  commissioners  every  live  years 
in  succession.  They  elected  Mr.  Purviance  chairman, 
and  were  authorised  to  make  a survey  and  chart  of  the 
basin,  harbour  and  river  Patapsco ; ascertain  the  depth 
and  course  of  the  channel,  and  provide  for  the  cleaning 
the  same ; and  a sum  of  one  penny  per  ton  of  every 
vessel  entering  or  clearing,  which  was  raised  to  two 
cents  and  sanctioned  by  Congress  after  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution,  was  imposed,  to  defray  the  expense. 
They  were  also  authorised  to  make  rules  respecting 
wharves  and  wharfage,  and  keeping  them  in  repair. 
There  was  still  no  public  wharf  but  that  of  about  100 
feet  on  Calvert  street,  and  no  private  wharves  extend- 
ed above  200  except  those  of  Messrs  Spear,  Smith  and 
Buchanan ; so  that  the  space  occupied  by  the  water  at 
that  time  was  perhaps  equal  to  double  the  surface  of  the 
present  basin  and  docks. 

Messrs.  John  and  Andrew  Ellicott  purchased  the 
water  lot  and  extended  a wharf  on  Light  street,  for  fil- 
ling of  which,  they  used  a drag  and,  with  a team  of 
horses,  drew  the  oozy  sediment  from  the  bottom  of  the 
river.  They  also  procured  iron  scoops  to  be  used  by 
hand  or  windlass,  with  which  the  same  operation  Is 


1783.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  101 

performed,  and  was  improved  by  Messrs.  Cruse  and  Cob 
ver,  with  the  use  of  horses.'  By  this  means,  any  part 
of  the  upper  harbour,  called  the  basin,  is  made  nine  feet 
deep;  the  water  of  the  point  and  the  river,  generally 
being  double  that  depth  at  common  tides. 

A company  chiefly  composed  of  citizens  of  Bal- 
timore, was  incorporated  to  make  a canal  on  the  Sus- 
quehana.  Soon  after  the  Patowmack  Canal  Company 
was  established,  and  in  1 799,  another  to  make  a canal 
to  unite  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  bays. 

The  defects  of  the  original  plan  of  the  tow  n now'  be- 
came more  burthensome,  and  on  the  petition  of  a num- 
ber of  inhabitants,  a law  was  passed  authorising  the 
commissioners  of  the  towrn  to  make  Hanover  lane  the 
width  of  sixty-six  feet,  being  an  extension  to  the  street 
of  that  name  in  Mr.  Howard’s  addition,  assessing  the 
damages  sustained  and  the  benefits  from  which  the 
same  should  be  paid.  By  the  consent  of  the  proprietors 
of  the  grounds,  the  commissioners  also  opened  Holliday 
street  of  the  w7idth  of  eighty  feet,  Lemmon  street  thirty- 
three  feet,  Orange  lane  eighteen  feet,  and  widened  East 
lane,  now  in  Fayette  street,  from  Holliday  street  to 
Gay  street,  to  forty  feet:  Holliday  street  was  extended 
northwardly  fifty  feet  wdde  in  1810.  In  1787,  Light 
lane  was  widened  to  thirty-eight  feet  and  a half,  re- 
serving the  house  standing  on  the  icest  side , come?'  of 
Baltimore  street , and  called  Light  street,  but  a street 
called  Walnut  street,  then  bounding  the  town  south 
westerly,  was  entirely  closed,  and  Forrest  street  north 
of  Baltimore  street  which  had  been  laid  out  sixty-six 
feet,  wTas  limited  to  a lane  of  eighteen,  in  17 92:  when 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


102 


[1783, 


Tammany  and  Chatham  streets,  now  part  of  Fayette 
street,  were  opened  to  the  width  of  forty  feet.  Charles 
street  was  extended  across  two  or  three  docks  from 
Camden  to  Barre  street  in  1796,  and  the  docks  filled 
up  and  from  thence  Goodman  street  was  opened  south. 
Sharping  lane  was  widened  to  forty-nine  and  a half 
feet  from  Gay  to  South  streets,  and  called  Second  street, 
of  which  it  was  an  extension,  in  1798 

Most  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  town,  who  had  gone 
into  the  army  and  navy,  and  held  commissions,  includ- 
ing Messrs.  Thomas  Yates,  James  McFadon,  Young 
Wilkinson,  John  Deaver,  Philip  Graybell,  and  Sabrit 
Bowen,  whose  names  and  perhaps  others,  should  have 
been  included  in  preceding  lists,  returned  and  settled 
here. 

The  following  officers  of  the  army  of  other  parts  of 
the  state  or  other  states,  also  settled  here,  besides 
general  Williams,  viz:  Messrs.  N.  Ramsay,  John 
Swann,  Rob’t  Ballard,  Tench  Tilghman,  John  Strieker, 
William  Clemm,  Martin  Eichelberger,  David  Har- 
ris, Frederick  Yeiser,  Samuel  Sadler,  John  Bankson, 
John  Lynch,  Clement  Skerrett,  and  John  Brevitt;  and 
Paul  Bentalou,  esq.  who  was  first  a captain  of  caval- 
ry in  Pulaski’s  legion,  and  had  become  chief  officer 
and  commander  of  the  survivors  of  that  gallant  corps. 

Several  French  gentlemen  established  commercial 
houses  during  or  directly  after  the  war,  viz.  Monbos, 
Latil,  Zacharie,  Pascault,  Dumeste,  Delaporte;  and  the 
chevalier  D’Anmour,  his  most  Christian  Majesty’s  con- 
sul for  Maryland  and  Virginia,  fixed  himself  in  Balti- 
more* 


103 


1783.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 

Captains  Plunket  and  Moore  had  returned  in  conse- 
quence of  ill  health  or  reform  of  the  corps  in  which 
they  had  served,  and  organized  the  Baltimore  troop, 
the  latter  acting  as  lieutenant  until  declining  health 
obliged  the  former  to  go  to  sea.  The  following  gentle- 
men, several  of  whom  had  served  in  the  Independent 
Infantry  company  were  amongst  those  who  entered  the 
troop — viz: 


David  Plunket,  captain , 
Thomas  Russell,  lieutenant , 
Lyde  Goodwin,  surgeon , 
Thomas  Hollingsworth, 
William  Neill, 

Thorowgood  Smith, 
Christopher  Johnston, 
Abraham  Vanbibber, 
Luther  Martin, 

David  Williamson, 

John  M‘ Henry, 

James  Jaffray, 

Richard  Ridgely, 

John  M‘Lure, 

David  Hopkins, 

Archibald  Moncricf, 

John  Jeffers, 

Francis  Grant, 

George  Turnbull, 

John  Foster, 


Nicholas  R.  Moore,  lieutenant , 
Mark  Pringle,  comet , 

Matthew  Ridley,  quarter  master , 
William  Hammond, 

Alexander  M‘Kim, 

William  Patterson, 

Samuel  Hollingsworths 
Robert  Lyon, 

James  Sterling, 

John  Spear, 

Thomas  Yates, 

William  Knox, 

John  Kirwan, 

William  Taylor, 

James  Ryan, 

Larkin  Dorsey, 

Nathan  Levy, 

John  Stewart, 

John  M‘Alister, 

George  Hammond. 


General  O.  H.  Williams  married  and  settled  in  Bal- 
timore, being  appointed  collector  and  naval  officer,  in 
the  place  of  Thomas  Sollers,  Esq.  deceased. 

Directly  after  the  peace  several  merchants  from  other 
states  or  other  parts  of  this  state  settled  here,  among 


104 


ANrNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1783. 

whom  were  Messrs.  Slubey,  James  Carey,  W.  Potts, 
William  West,  Ilaxall,  Van  Wyck,  Contee,  Dali,  Stouf- 
fer,  Starck,  Kimmel,  Isaac  Solomon,  George  Evans, 
Elisha  Tyson,  Barton,  William  Young,  Henry  John- 
son and  Johonnot;  and  a number  of  European  gentle- 
men; among  whom  were  Messrs.  S.  Wilson,  R.  Oliver, 
A.  Campbell,  James  Buchanan,  Riddell,  S.  Liggatt,  J . 
Salmon,  G.  Salmon,  A.  Stewart,  A.  Robinson,  Grundy, 
J.  Hollins,  Caton,  Coopman,  Hodgson,  Buckler,  Nich- 
olson, Neilson,  Schroeder,  Seekamp,  Ghequiere,  Ratien, 
Konecke,  Labes,  M’Causland,  Hacket,  Zollickoffer 
and  Messonier,  and  established  houses  of  trade;  Mr. 
Adrian  Valck  being  consul  for  the  United  Netherlands. 
By  the  Minerva,  captain  Belt ; Harmony,  Lysle;  Paca, 
Kell,  and  other  vessels,  there  were  brought  a great 
many  Irish  and  German  redemptioners ; and  a society  for 
the  aid  of  the  Germans  not  speaking  the  language  of 
the  country,  was  formed. 

But  the  late  emigrants  or  refugees  from  the  country 
were  also  returning,  and  it  being  feared  disturbances 
would  ensue,  the  inhabitants,  imitating  other  places, 
held  a meeting  and  resolved  that  they  should  not 
be  admitted,  until  the  meeting  of  the  general  Assembly. 

Those  justices  who  resided  in  or  near  town  and  most 
frequently  occupied  the  Bench  wrere  A.  Buchanan,  John 
Moale,  W.  Buchanan,  J.  Vanbibber,  A.  Vanbibber, 
Geo.  Lindenberger,  James  Calhoun,  William  Russell, 
Thomas  Russell,  James  M’Henry,  Peter  Sheppard. 
Henry  Wilson,  Thomas  Elliott,  John  Merryman,  Ro- 
bert Lemmon,  Thomas  Sobers  and  Jesse  Bussey 
Esqrs.  and  the  gentlemen  of  the  Bar,  besides  the  attor- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


105 


1783.] 

ney  general,  Samuel  Johnson,  Richard  Ridgely,  Aquil- 
la  Hall,  Robert  Smith,  Zeb.  Hollingsworth,  James  Car- 
roll,  W.  H.  Dorsey,  William  Moore,  Rinald.  Johnson, 
Archibald  Robinson,  Robert  Milligan,  Robert  Golds- 
borough,  Henry  Ridgely,  Peter  Carnes  and  Thomas 
Gittings  Esqrs.  Resides  some  of  those  gentlemen  of 
the  faculty  before  mentioned  and  yet  living,  the  prac- 
titioners at  this  period  were  Doctors  Johnson,  Good- 
win, Troup,  Andrews,  Coale,  Gilder,  and  not  long 
after  Doctors  Brown,  Littlejohn,  Ross,  A.  Wiesen- 
thall  and  Buchanan. 

On  the  16th  May  1783  Mr.  John  Hayes  commenced 
the  publication  of  the  paper  entitled,  “the  Maryland 
Gazette.”  This  paper  with  the  Journal , then  edited 
by  Messrs.  Goddard  & Angel,  gave  way  to  others,  and 
the  number  has  been  increased  successively  to  five 
daily  papers;  they  are  chiefly  devoted  to  commerce. 

On  the  30th  of  September, the  inhabitants  gave  a pub- 
lic dinner  to  Maj.  Gen.  Greene  on  his  return  from 
Carolina.  An  address  to  the  General  congratulating 
him  on  the  successes  of  the  army  under  his  command, 
was  received  and  answered  by  him  in  the  most  obliging 
manner. 

On  the  4th  of  November  Mr.  Sterett’s  brewery  was 
burned  down.  Overcome  by  this  second  distressing 
calamity  in  which  the  citizens  warmly  sympathized 
with  the  then  venerable  sufferer,  Mr  Sterett  declined 
business  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  But  Mr. 
Thomas  Peters  moved  from  Philadelphia  and  erected 
the  brewery  near  Water  street  bridge  in  the  course  of 

14 


j06  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1785. 

the  year,  which  was  also  destroyed  by  fire  some  years 
after  and  rebuilt. 

The  British  army  evacuated  New  York  the  20th 
November;  the  Americans  entered  it  the  25th,  and 
the  1 1 th  December  was  a day  of  thanksgiving  through- 
out the  United  States. 

In  the  last  week  in  December,  there  were  cleared 
out  two  ships,  three  brigs  and  two  schooners;  a 
proof  of  enterprize  which  did  not  escape  the  penetrat- 
ing eye  of  General  Washington,  who,  in  answer  to  the 
address  of  the  citizens  1 Sth  December,  at  a public  din- 
ner given  to  him,  then  on  his  way  to  Annapolis  to  re- 
sign to  congress  there,  that  body  being  threatened  at  Phil- 
adelphia by  the  discontented  troops  of  the  state  about  to 
be  disbanded,  thus  expressed  his  pious  good  will,  a good 
will  which  Heaven  seems  to  haveblessed  in  our  favour, 
“receive  this  last  public  acknowledgment  for  the  repeat- 
ed instances  of  your  politeness,  and  believe  it  is  my 
earnest  wish  that  the  commerce,  the  improvements  and 
universal  prosperity  of  this  flourishing  town, may  if  pos- 
sible increase  with  even  more  rapidity  than  they  have 
hitherto  done,” 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  regular  lines  of  stage 
coaches  were  established  to  Fredericktown  and  Anna- 
polis. Col.  Howard  commenced  his  improvements  at 
Belvidere  and  William  Gibson,  Esq.  his  dwelling  on 
Price  street,  west  of  the  town. 

In  May,  James  McHenry,  Esq.  was  appointed  a mem- 
ber of  congress  in  the  place  of  Edward  Giles,  Esq.  de 
ceased;  Zachariah  Allen,  Esq.  was  appointed  Nota- 
ry Public,  being  the  first  here;  and  in  October,  John 


1783]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  107 

Sterett,  Esq.  was  elected  a delegate  to  the  Assembly  in 
the  place  of  Mr.  Fell. 

The  ensuing  winter  proved  exceedingly  severe ; the 
bay  was  closed  by  ice  almost  to  the  mouth  of  it  and 
the  harbour  which  closed  the  2d  January,  was  not 
clear  to  admit  vessels  until  the  25th  March,  nor  then, 
but  with  much  labour  in  cutting  passages,  which  was 
sixteen  days  later  than  in  1780.  At  both  periods  much 
injury  was  sustained  by  the  shipping  in  the  bay  and 
on  the  coast  and  considerable  sums  collected  to  re- 
lieve the  poor.  It  was  stated  that  the  winter  had  been 
very  moderate  in  Nova  Scotia,  while  at  New  Orleans, 
the  river  Mississippi  was  fast  closed  by  ice,  which  had 
not  been  known  there  before.  Happily  there  has  not 
occurred  here  such  severe  winters  since,  the  navigation 
being  generally  open  until  the  5th  of  January  and  sel 
dom  closed  after  the  10th  of  February,  but  sometimes 
open  all  the  year. 

In  the  year  1784,  the  Roman  catholic  congregation 
having  much  increased,  the  Rev  Mr.  Charles  Sewall 
is  settled  in  Baltimore,  and  a considerable  addition  is 
made  to  their  church  on  Saratoga  street. 

Mr.  James  Rumsey  of  Cecil  county,  procured  an 
exclusive  privilege  of  this  state  for  making  and  vending 
boats  to  be  propelled  with  or  against  currents  by  steam, 
then  lately  invented ; and  an  obscure  individual  navi- 
gated a large  canoe  from  the  Susquehanna  into  the  ba- 
sin, by  turning  a crank  with  a water  wheel  on  each 
side,  which  mechanism,  applied  to  the  power  above 
mentioned,  is  like  the  construction  of  our  present  steam 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


108 


[1784. 


boats.  Five  years  after  Mr.  Cruse  erects  a steam  mill 
near  Pratt  street  wharf,  but  the  experiment  failed. 

Proposals  were  authorised  and  published  for  es- 
tablishing a Bank,  and  subscriptions  raised  to  a consid- 
erable amount,  but  which  then  shared  the  fate  of  the 
one  proposed  by  the  state  four  years  before.  A com- 
pany was  incorporated  to  cut  a canal  from  the  basin  at 
Forrest  street  to  the  cove  in  Ridgely’s  addition,  and 
which  could  have  been  then  effected  by  the  brick  ma- 
kers of  the  vicinity,  free  from  expence  to  the  public 
as  was  believed,  if  not  opposed  by  some  of  the  proprietors 
of  the  ground  through  which  the  canal  would  pass. 
William  Murphy  a Bookseller,  succeeded  in  establish 
ing  a circulating  library  south  side  of  Market  one  door 
east  of  Calvert  street,  which  was  soon  after  purchased 
and  continued  by  Mr.  Hugh  Barkley,  and  Peter  Carnes 
Esq.  exhibited  the  novel  spectacle  of  raising  a balloon 
from  the  park. 

The  Marquis  De  La  Fayette  visiting  General  Wash- 
ington, was  entertained  hereby  a public  dinner  the 
first  of  September,  and  received  and  politely  an- 
swered a congratulatory  address  from  the  citizens;  at 
which  time  the  legislature  declared  the  Marquis  and  his 
heirs  male  for  ever,  citizens  of  Maryland. 

Provision  was  made  for  lighting  the  streets,  and  the 
town  commissioners,  clothed  with  the  authority  of 
justices,  pursuant  to  law  passed  this  year,  appointed 
three  constables  and  fourteen  watchmen,  to  guard  the 
town.  A law  was  passed  to  license  and  regulate  public 
sales  and  major  Yates  appointed  sole  auctioneer,  to  pay 


1784.] 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


109 


half  per  cent  on  amount  sold,  to  the  special  commis- 
sioners for  the  use  of  the  town. 

By  the  account  of  the  special  commissioners  there 
was  expended  and  due  for  paving  streets  the  last  year 
99 52l.  6s.  1 d.  and  their  per  diem  149Z.  10s.  0 d. 
of  which  2680Z.  8s.  2d.  was  received  for  auction  dues; 
from  individuals  at  12s.  6d.  per  foot  front  5949Z.  17s.  Od. 
licences,  fines,  &c.  703Z.  17s.  7 d.  the  balance  paid  by 
the  tax  of  2s.  and  6d.  per  100Z.  on  private  property, 
which  yielded  1105Z.  18s.  10 d.  in  the  gross. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  congress  had  stated  the  debts 
of  the  confederacy  at  $44,000,000,  near  8,000,000  of 
which  was  due  in  France  and  Holland,  and  solicited 
the  states  to  impose  duties,  as  follows,  Jamaica  Rum 
4 d.  other  Spirits  3 d.  per  gallon,  Madeira  Wine  Is.  other 
6d.  Bohea  6d.  other  tea  2s.  pepper  3 d.  loaf  sugar  2d. 
brown  pothers  1 d.  molasses  1 d.  coffee  and  cocoa  Id. 
and  goods  ad  valorem  five  per  cent,  and  this  state  passed 
an  act  for  the  purpose,  on  condition  all  other  states  did 
the  same.  This  was  not  done,  and  in  1784  the  folio wr- 
ing  duties  were  levied  here;  vessels  of  the  state  six 
pence,  others  one  shilling  per  ton;  spirits  two  pence; 
Maderia  wine  six  pence;  Port  and  Claret  four  pence; 
other  three  pence;  coffee  five  shillings  per  hundred 
weight;  loaf  sugar  six  shillings;  brown  one  shilling; 
green  tea  nine  pence;  Souchong  six  pence;  bohea 
two  pence;  salt  eight  pence;  ad  valorem  goods  twro 
per  centum;  and  on  exports  three  years  only,  Wheat 
flour  three  pence ; and  tobacco  two  shillings  per  hogs- 
head, with  a deduction  for  state  built  vessels.  Three 
fourths  of  the  proceeds  for  the  continental  treasury. — 


110 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1784 

At  the  next  session  the  duties  upon  exports  were  abo- 
lished, but  considerable  additions  were  made  to  the  du- 
ties on  imports,  and  if  by  British  vessels,  there  being 
no  treaty,  the  duty  was  doubled.  It  is  probable  that  the 
nett  amount  received  from  the  customs  here  previ- 
ously to  the  adoption  of  the  federal  Constitution 
and  the  establishment  of  United  States  Collectors 
was  above  $200,000  per  annum,  which  the  mer- 
chants of  Baltimore  advanced  then,  but  is  not  to  be 
compared  with  the  sums  collected  here  since,  for  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States. 

The  old  market  had  become  wholly  insufficient;  great 
divisions  took  place  in  locating  a new  one,  and  situa- 
tions on  Light  and  Holliday  streets  were  proposed  and 
preferred  by  many,  but  the  executors  of  Mr.  Harrison, 
offering  to  appropriate  the  space  in  Harrison  street,  in- 
tended originally  for  a canal  or  dock,  to  that  purpose, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  districts  subscribed  money  to 
erect  a market  house  there.  As  this  would  not  accom- 
modate the  inhabitants  on  Howard’s  hill,  they  also  sub- 
scribe to  erect  one  at  the  north  west  corner  of  Hanover 
and  Camden  streets.  The  legislature  then  ordered  the 
old  one  to  be  sold;  the  proceeds  to  be  applied,  three 
fourths  for  the  Centre  market  and  one  fourth  for  the 
Hanover  market  to  aid  them,  and  extend  the  old  regu- 
lations to  each ; the  first  to  hold  the  markets  as  before, 
on  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  the  other  on  Mondays 
and  Thursdays.  In  the  mean  time  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Point  proceed  to  erect  a Market  house  on  a space 
appropriated  to  the  purpose  by  Mr.  Fell,  holding  their 
markets  on  Tuesdays  and  Fridays*  which  the  legisln- 


1784.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  HI 

ture  confirmed  the  year  after.  The  Lexington  market 
was  erected  pursuant  to  law  by  the  Western  Precincts 
in  1803,  and  another  was  provided  for  the  Eastern  pre- 
cincts in  1807,  on  ground  given  by  colonel  Rogers, 
though  not  erected  till  1819. 

The  proprietors  of  ground  on  Calvert  street  and  in 
the  meadow,  then  north  of  the  falls,  desirous  to  extend 
that  street,  raised  a sum  of  money  to  underpin  the  Court 
House  by  three  arches.  Having  obtained  permission 
of  the  legislature,  immediately  effected  it,  removing  the 
earth  to  the  depth  of  twenty  feet;  and  so  it  continued  to 
stand,  a curious  monument  of  the  ingenuity  of  Mr. 
Leonard  Harbaugh,  the  architect,  as  well  as  of  the  en- 
terprise of  the  contributors,  who  guaranteed  the  work- 
manship to  stand  more  than  twenty  years. 

A new  survey  was  now  ordered  to  be  made  of  the 
town,  and  the  inhabitants  began  to  discuss  the  necessity 
of  a charter. 

Messrs.  Garts  and  Leypold  erected  a sugar  refinery 
on  Peace  alley,  the  east  side  of  Hanover  street  between 
Conway  and  Camden  streets;  and  John  Frederick 
Amelung,  Esq.  arrived  with  a number  of  glass  manufac- 
turers from  Germany,  and  erected  an  extensive  factory 
on  the  Monococy,  which  was  afterwards,  that  is  in 
1799,  established  on  the  south  side  of  the  basin  by  his 
son,  and  since  enlarged  by  Mr.  J.  F.  Friese. 

As  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  America  remained  in  the  bishop  of  London, 
the  revolution  prevented  regular  ordinations,  and  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Seabury,  of  Connecticut,  went  there  to 
procure  higher  orders,  but  encountered  many  delays 


112 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1784. 

and  did  not  return  until  June  of  the  ensuing  year.  In 
the  meantime,  the  application  of  the  methodist  preach- 
ers produced  from  Mr.  Wesley  the  appointment  of  a 
superintendant  of  his  own  here,  in  the  person  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Coke,  in  the  course  of  this  year. 

On  Christmas  day  the  first  grand  conference  of  that 
society  was  held  in  Baltimore,  when  the  doctor,  assist- 
ed by  other  preachers  who  came  with  him,  constituted 
a new  church,  and  on  the  presentation  of  preachers  to 
the  number  of  sixty,  conferred  the  same  station  on  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Francis  Asbury : and,  the  next  year,  the  socie- 
ty sell  the  church  in  Lovely  lane  and  build  a new 
Church  on  Light  street. 

According  to  the  Gazette,  there  were  entered  at  the 
custom  house,  since  March  25th,  twenty  one  ships,  for- 
ty one  brigs  and  49  sloops  and  schooners,  and  cleared 
twenty  seven  ships,  thirty  six  brigs  and  forty  six  sloops 
and  schooners. 

By  the  act  to  raise  supplies  of  1 785,  two  boards  of 
five  gentlemen  each,  commissioners  of  tax,  were  ap- 
pointed ; one  for  the  town,  which  was  to  be  assessed 
separately  from  the  county ; and  in  the  same  law,  the 
precincts  were  described  to  contain  nearly  the  same 
ground  which  have  been  lately  added  to  the  city.  The 
mode  of  raising  the  public  charges  by  poll , or  masters 
of  families  and  labourers  according  to  their  number, 
had  been  abolished  by  the  Constitution,  and  the  state 
tax  or  supply  which  had  varied  with  the  value  of  the 
current  money  from  three-fourths  to  one  and  a half  per 
centum,  by  the  present  act,  was  one  dollar  on  one  hun 


1785.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  113 

valued  by  the  law,  at  an  average  of  $3^°^,  and,  being 
the  last  supply,  the  valuation  has  not  been  altered,  in 
respect  to  lands.  The  property  in  the  town  and  coun- 
ty was  assessed  at  the  sum  of  l,1 703, 6221.  or  4,542,992 
dollars,  and  the  above  state  tax  was  $17,03 6 and  the 
levy  of  the  county  for  the  next  year  7s.  per  100  dollars, 
$15,991  60. 

The  commissioners  principal  duty  appearing  to  be 
that  of  securing  the  collection  of  the  tax  payable  to  the 
state,  the  utility  of  the  office  may  be  doubted,  as  well 
as  the  propriety  of  fixing  the  value  of  property,  perhaps 
three  fourths  less  than  the  actual  current  value,  when 
assessors  are  renewed,  as  often  as  there  is  a general 
assessment,  and  all  the  levies  are  made  by,  and  all  pay- 
ments made  to  the  councils  or  levy  courts  specially  ap- 
pointed, by  acts  passed  ten  years  after. 

John  O’Donnell,  Esq.  arrived  from  Canton  in  the 
ship  Pallas,  9th  August,  with  a full  cargo  of  China 
goods,  being  the  first  direct  importation  from  thence 
into  this  port,  the  value  of  which  he  realised  here ; and 
regular  packets  to  and  from  Norfolk  (Va.)  were  estab- 
lished by  Capt.  Joseph  White  and  others  of  this  place. 
Mr.  Harrison’s  wharf  before  spoken  of,  was  extended 
each  side  of  South  street,  by  the  late  Daniel  Bowley, 
Esq.  one  of  his  executors,  and  it  thence  became  known 
by  the  name  of  Bowley* s wharf ; Messrs.  Purviance, 
McLure,  Thomas  and  Samuel  Hollingsworth,  William 
Smith  and  Jesse  Hollingsworth’s  wharves,  and  the 
private  wharves  generally,  with  Cheapside,  were  ex- 
tended. Piles,  with  the  machine  for  driving  then?, 
were  introduced  bv  the  builders  of  wharves. 

15 


114 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1785. 

The  German  Calvinists  erect  the  church  at  the  east 
end  of  Baltimore  street  bridge,  Mr.  Boehme  being  Pas- 
tor. That  part  of  the  congregation  attached  to  Mr. 
Otterbein,  erect  the  church  on  Conway  street,  called 
Evangelical  Reformed,  which  was  slightly  injured  by 
lightning  the  10th  of  August,  1792,  when  a young  man 
was  killed  on  Smith’s  wharf,  the  opposite  side  of 
the  basin  to  the  church.  The  other  church  was  sold  to 
the  Episcoplians  in  1795,  and  the  society  erect  their 
present  church  on  Second  street,  which  was  struck  by 
lightning  15th  July  1804,  on  raising  the  steeple  and 
affixing  the  town  clock. 

The  plan  of  a charter  for  the  town,  including  a 
Mayor’s  Court,  was  introduced  by  bill  into  the  Assem- 
bly; but,  placing  all  power  in  bodies  organised  like 
other  old  corporations,  and  leaving  the  citizens  but  lit- 
tle share  in  their  own  government,  it  was  wisely  op- 
posed by  and  as  wisely  not  pressed  upon  them.  Richard 
Ridgely,  Esq.  who  had  moved  from  Anne  Arundel  and 
been  some  time  a member  of  the  Baltimore  bar,  was  ap 
pointed  one  of  the  delegates  of  this  state  in  congress. 

Col.  Howard  and  George  Lux,  Esq.  presented  the 
commissioners  a lot  of  ground  on  the  west  side  of 
the  town,  for  the  interment  of  strangers,  which  is  sane 
tioned  by  act  of  Assembly. 

No  companies  were  yet  chartered  for  insuring  vessels 
and  property  at  sea,  but  policies  prepared  by  Hercules 
Courtenay  ,Esq.  were  subscribed  by  merchants  and  other 
individuals,  to  very  large  amounts.  Similar  insurances 
were  effected  after wards  on  policies  prepared  by  Capt. 
Keeports. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


115 


1765.] 

Capt.  Philip  Graybell  was  elected  Sheriff  for  the 
ensuing  year,  by  a poll  for  the  town  and  county,  of 
984  votes,  after  a severe  contest  with  Henry  Stevenson, 
Esq.  who  had  859  votes,  and  Capt.  Edward  Oldham, 
837,  and  several  other  candidates;  but  no  opposition 
was  made  to  the  return  of  the  sitting  members  of  the 
Assembly. 

The  rigid  execution  of  the  British  navigation  act, 
their  regulations  for  the  bank  fisheries  and  occlusion  of 
the  West  India  ports,  began  to  be  felt  seriously  by  the 
farmers  and  traders ; and  the  importation  of  great  quan- 
tities of  paper,  glass,  stoneware,  powder  and  shot,  soap 
and  candles,  butter,  beef,  pork,  porter,  cheese,  hats, 
shoes,  nails,  hoes,  scythes,  sickles,  jewelry,  sadleiy,  cop- 
per and  tin  ware,  and  other  articles  of  which  the  coun- 
try already  manufactured  considerable  quantities,  was 
prejudicial  to  the  tradesmen ; made  all  classes  anxious 
for  relief,  and  societies  were  formed  in  this  and  all  the 
sea  ports  northward,  some  of  which  urged  the  necessity 
of  refusing  to  admit  British  goods;  others  of  creating  a 
paper  money,  and  all,  the  want  of  greater  federal  pow'- 
ers  in  the  confederacy.  Of  the  tradesmen,  a committee 
composed  of  Messrs.  David  Stodder,  Adam  Fonerden  and 
John  Gray,  commenced  a correspondence  on  the  means 
of  protecting  and  promoting  domestic  manufactures. 

After  Mr.  Harrison’s  addition  to  the  town  in  1747, 
it  became  the  practice  to  dispose  of  lots  by  leases  for 
long  terms,  mostly  ninety  nine  years  renewable  for  ever ; 
the  rent  received  before  the  war  being  for  a few  shil- 
lings or  even  a few  pence  per  foot  front  per  annum,  and 


lit; 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1786. 

frequently  without  any  consideration  in  hand,  so  that 
the  landlords  derived  no  adequate  compensation  when 
the  value  of  money  had  fell  and  property  risen:  On  the 
other  hand,  the  rents  stipulated  after  the  war  were  so 
high,  that,  upon  the  depression  which  now  took  place, 
the  lessees  or  tenants  frequently  abandoned  the  lots, 
and  the  town  lost  some  valuable  citizens  who  fled  from 
prosecution,  though  their  only  fault  or  error  was  an  ex- 
cess of  enterprise.  Similar  causes  have  produced  sim- 
ilar effects  in  later  times;  and  it  would  seem  adviseable 
that,  in  order  to  avoid  the  injury  which  either  party  is 
exposed  to  sustain,  from  the  variation  of  the  current  mo- 
ney, or  in  the  value  of  necessaries  of  life,  that  some 
commodity  of  that  description,  as  Wheat  or  Flour, 
should  be  made  a standard  for  rents  reserved  in 
leases  hereafter  to  be  made,  as  was  the  practice  of  mer- 
chants and  others  both  in  France  and  America,  in  rela- 
tion to  ordinary  contracts,  during  the  depreciation  of 
the  paper  money  in  each  country. 

On  the  17th  August,  1786,  a new  theatre  built  of 
wood,  by  Messrs.  Hallam  and  Henry,  near  Queen,  now 
Pratt,  and  Albemarle  streets,  was  opened  by  the  old 
company. 

On  the  5th  October  there  was  a great  fresh,  the  cur- 
rent of  the  falls  being  met  by  the  tide,  overflowed  the 
Centre  market  space  and  nearly  all  the  made  ground  and 
wharves;  John  Boyce,  Esq.  lost  his  life  in  attempting 
to  ford  the  fadls  below  Hanson’s,  now  Keller’s  dam, 
all  the  bridges  which  were  wooden  ones,  being  carried 
away,  and  much  property  and  merchandise  lost.  Bal- 
timore street  bridge  was  rebuilt  by  Mr.  Jacob  Small, 


1786]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  H7 

Senr.  of  wood,  in  one  arch,  of  a segment  of  a circle  nine- 
ty feet  span,  the  others  in  the  usual  way.  On  the  24th 
of  July,  1788,  a storm  of  wind  and  rain  raised  the  water 
in  the  harbour  above  many  wharves,  and  much  proper- 
ty was  lost,  by  being  overflowed,  but  all  those  wharves 
have  been  raised  and  no  such  damage  has  been  expe^ 
rienced  since.  About  ten  years  after  the  bridges  were 
all  rebuilt,  with  a new  one  on  Pratt  street;  after  the 
lapse  of  another  ten  years,  stone  bridges,  of  two  arches 
each  were  erected  on  Baltimore  and  Gay  streets,  and  di- 
rectly after,  another  of  three  arches  at  Pratt  street,  the 
abutments  and  piers  resting  on  piles;  the  commission- 
ers not  succeeding  in  an  experiment  to  lay  the  founda- 
tions in  stone  at  Baltimore  street. 

By  a considerable  freshet  on  the  ninth  of  August, 
18 17,  the  wooden  Bridges  on  Bath  and  Water  streets 
were  floated  against  the  stone  ones  on  Gay  and  Pratt 
streets,  which  were  considerably  injured  by  the  ob- 
structions to  the  passage  of  the  water,  and  the  Centre 
Market  again  overflowed.  An  entire  new  stone  Bridge 
of  one  arch,  was  afterwards  erected  at  Gay  street  and 
the  other  repaired.  None  of  those  freshets  are  attend- 
ed by  hurricanes,  nor  has  the  buildings  or  shipping 
ever  suffered  any  material  injury  from  wind  or  hail  at 
this  place. 

The  consumption  of  foreign  goods  had  greatly  in- 
creased after  the  war,  not  only  by  increase  of  popula- 
tion in  towns,  but  even  in  the  country,  where  formerly 
articles  of  common  clothing  had  been  wrought.  From 
the  great  importations  of  these,  with  other  foreign 
goods,  mostly  on  credit  or  on  foreign  account ; from 


118 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1786. 

the  want  of  shipping  to  convey  much  of  our  own  pro- 
ducts or,  so  far  as  concerns  this  state,  any  other  cur- 
rency than  specie,  and  other  causes  before  alluded  to, 
still  increasing,  the  distress  of  the  people  increased  also. 

Cotton  was  not  then  raised  for  exportation,  and  the 
prices  of  the  staple  articles  of  flour  and  tobacco,  falling 
very  low,  that  distress  became  pretty  general  through- 
out the  Union.  The  certificates  of  pay  due  the  army, 
was  only  worth  about  twelve  per  cent  for  some  time,  so 
great  and  deplorable  was  the  discredit  of  the  confed- 
eracy. But  the  legislature  through  the  perseverance 
of  the  senate,  although  much  importuned  and  invited 
by  the  example  of  other  states,  still  pressing  them  to 
unite  in  a general  and  efficient  tariff  of  duties  on  im- 
ports, refused  to  resort  again  to  the  paper  money  sys- 
tem. The  youth  of  Baltimore  intended  for  the  learned 
professions  hitherto,  were  sent  abroad  and  mostly  to 
schools  in  Pennsylvania;  but  now  an  Academy  was  es- 
tablished under  the  patronage  of  the  Rev.  Doctors 
Carroll,  West  and  Allison,  on  north  Charles  street, 
where  Edward  Langworthy  Esq.  taught  the  classics, 
and  Andrew  Ellicott  of  Joseph,  Esq.  surveyor  of  the 
United  States,  the  Mathematics,  ^Natural  Philosophy, 
&c.  which  unfortunately,  was  not  long  continued. 

According  to  reports  in  the  gazette  of  this  year  there 
were  entered  here  fifteen  Ships,  fifty  seven  Brigs  and 
one  hundred  and  sixty  Schooners  and  Sloops,  and  there 
were  cleared  twenty  Ships,  fifty  seven  Brigs  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  Schooners  and  Sloops,  to  and  from 
foreign  ports  and  places  only. 

The  commissioners  of  the  town  were  authorised  to 
appoint  inspectors  of  salted  provisions. 


1786.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  119 

James  McHenry  Esq.  resigned  his  seat  in  the  senate 
early  in  1786.  He  was  succeeded  by  Daniel  Bowley 
Esq.  and  at  the  senatorial  election  afterwards,  John 
Smith  Esq.  was  re  elected,  with  Richard  Ridgely  Esq. 
Captain  Charles  Ridgely,  Colonel  J.  E.  Howard  and 
Richard  Ridgely  Esqrs.  electors  for  this  county  and 
town;  and  in  1788,  James  Carroll  Esq.  who  had  moved 
here  from  Annapolis,  was  chosen  to  fill  a vacancy,  and 
in  November  1789,  Daniel  Bowley  Esq.  was  again 
chosen  to  fill  another  in  the  senate. 

Jesse  Hollingsworth  Esq.  was  elected  one  of  the 
delegates  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Sterett. 

On  the  twelfth  of  March  1 786,  died  at  his  residence 
in  the  county,  Andrew  Buchanan  Esq.  many  years  pre- 
siding justice  of  the  county  court  and  Lieutenant  of 
the  county:  and  in  town,  unmarried,  on  the  tenth  of 
October,  lately  a delegate  in  the  Assembly,  William 
Fell  Esq.  son  of  Edward,  who  laid  out  the  point. 

In  closing  the  year  by  noticing  the  deaths  which  oc- 
curred, the  method  of  annalists  is  copied,  but  in  connect- 
ing them  with  another  event  which  regularly  returns, 
the  annual  elections,  reference  to  the  laws  frequently 
occurs  before  the  names  of  those  by  whom  they  were 
passed. 

In  1787  Mr.  Oliver  Evans’  newly  invented  steam 
carriage,  elevator  and  hopper  boy  were  patented  by 
the  assembly,  and  the  two  last  generally  introduced  into 
the  mills  about  Baltimore,  not  without  claims  to  origi- 
nality, on  the  part  of  some  of  the  proprietors  of  mills 
in  this  neighbourhood.  Messrs.  Septimus  Noel,  Isaac 


120 


ANNALS  OE  BALTIMORE. 


[1787. 

Vanbibber,  Robert  Henderson,  Thomas  Johnson,  Jer- 
emiah Yellot,  James  Clarke  and  Thomas  Elliot  were 
constituted  a board  to  examine  and  license  pilots,  with 
powers  of  renewal  etc,  and  the  rates  of  pilotage  was 
established. 

The  Baltimore  fire  insurance  company  was  incorpo 
rated,  but  this  was  succeeded  by  another  company,  call- 
ed, the  “Maryland  fire  insurance  Company”  four  years 
after,  and  this  was  succeeded  by  another,  of  the  former 
name,  in  1807.  In  the  mean  time,  that  is  in  1794 
the  Equitable  Society  for  mutual  insurance  was  incor- 
porated, and  in  1816  the  Phoenix  fire  insurance  compa- 
ny; but  when  the  first  company  was  chartered,  provision 
was  also  made  by  law  for  regulating  the  transportation 
through  the  town  and  storage  of  Gunpowder. 

The  grand  jury,  Stephen  Wilson  Esq.  foreman,  had 
represented  the  state  of  the  roads  as  a public  grievance, 
and  that  the  usual  method  of  repairs  was  insuf- 
ficient, two  years  belorc.  The  evil  had  increased  and 
the  Frederick,  Reisters  town  and  York  roads  were 
laid  out  anew,  for  which  special  and  permanent  taxes 
were  laid  and  turnpike  gates  established  with  rates  of  toll 
towards  defraying  the  expense  of  the  county  in  making 
and  repairing  them.  In  1796  a turnpike  road  was  au- 
thorised to  be  made  by  subscribers  of  stock,  from 
Washington  to  this  city,  with  corporate  rights,  tolls,  &c. 
But,  with  others  for  roads  to  Frederick  and  Reisters 
town,  past  the  next  year,  was  not  carried  into  effect. 
The  two  latter  roads,  with  the  York  and  Falls  road 
were  severally  granted  to  corporate  companies  created 
in  1804  and  soon  completed,  and  since  that  the 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


121 


1787.] 

Washington,  Havre  de  Grace  and  Harford  road  compa- 
nies have  been  incorporated;  indeed  all  the  main  roads 
to  and  fromthe  city.  It  was  also  in  1787  that  Baltimore 
street  was  extended  westwardly  beyond  colonel  How- 
ard’s addition,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  raise  a com- 
pany to  introduce  into  the  town  a copious  supply  of 
wholesome  water  by  pipes,  not  effected  for  several  years. 

In  December  Cokesbury  College  in  Harford  county, 
was  opened  and  soon  after  incorporated.  Mr.  Asbury 
and  the  council  of  the  Methodist  church  make  some 
progress  in  establishing  Sunday  Schools  for  persons  of 
all  descriptions,  free  of  expense. 

To  procure  the  country  a greater  unanimity  in  coun- 
cil, the  protection  of  domestic  manufactures  and  securi- 
ty to  its  revenue  and  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  a 
new  form  of  confederacy  was  happily  resorted  to,  and 
the  constitution  of  the  present  general  government 
which  was  formed  in  1787,  wras  signed  by  James 
McHenry  esq.  of  this  city,  one  of  the  members  of  the 
convention,  though  opposed  by  his  colleague  Mr.  Martin. 
The  Grand  Jury,  James  Calhoun  esq.  foreman,  present 
as  grievances  the  number  of  justices,  being  twenty;  the 
criminal  code,  and  state  of  the  roads;  recommending  a 
circuit  court  of  one  law  character  with  a limited  num- 
ber of  associate  justices,  the  others  to  receive  fees,  &c. 
On  the  thirty  first  December  Mr.  D.  Stodder  is  robbed 
between  town  and  point,  but  by  his  pursuit  five  persons 
were  taken  and  tried,  and  two,  Donnelly  and  Moony, 
condemned  and  executed. 

Captain  G.  P.  Keeports  is  appointed  Notary  Public. 

16 


]22  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1787, 

Samuel  Chase  esq.  having;  moved  from  Annapolis,  is 
elected  delegate,  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Hollingsworth,  and 
Col.  Howard  appointed  member  of  congress. 

On  the  1st  of  January.  1787,  died,  John  Sterett,  Esq. 
late  delegate  and  formerly  captain  of  the  Independent 
company. 

Next  year  Mr.  McHenry  and  doctor  John  Coulter 
are  returned,  by  a large  majority  of  voters  to  the  conven- 
tion of  the  state,  which,  on  the  28th  April,  1788,  rati- 
fied the  new  government;  after  which,  on  the  1st  of 
May,  there  was  a grand  procession  of  artists  with  the 
ship  rigged  boat  Federalist , w hich  captain  Barney  navi- 
gated to  Mount  Vernon  afterwards,  and  presented  to 
Gen.  Washington  on  the  part  of  the  merchants  of  Bal- 
timore. 

The  price  which  the  state  of  Maryland  would  pay  for 
the  advantages  of  a better  union,  in  abandoning  w ithout 
reserve,  the  resources  of  revenue  to  arise  from  her  cen- 
tral position  and  means  of  trade,  could  scarcely  be  an- 
ticipated, and  the  security  of  the  home  consumption  for 
the  products  of  mechanical  labour,  required  by  the 
tradesmen  and  intended  by  the  newr  government,  render- 
ed its  adoption  a triumph  to  them  particularly;  but  care 
should  be  taken  perhaps,  that  a reaction  does  not  take 
place,  and  foreign  markets  be  sought  for  at  the  expense 
of  a more  numerous  class  of  citizens,  whose  labour  is 
employed  in  procuring  more  essential  commodities. 

The  legislature  elect  Col.  Howard  governor  of  the 
state  in  November,  1788,  and  he  was  re-elected  the  two 
succeeding  years,  as  allowed  by  the  contitution ; an  honor 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


1788.] 


123 


not  before  conferred  on  the  town ; and  not  since  repeated, 
but  in  the  election  of  Charles  Ridgely,  of  Hampton,  Esq. 
in  1815,  181tj  and  1817;  in  which  latter  year  the  for- 
mer governor’s  son,  John  E.  Howard,  Jr.  Esq.  was 
chosen  a member  of  council  and  re  elected  the  two  suc- 
ceeding years,  being  the  only  member  selected  from  this 
town  or  county,  fo  that  Board. 

Already  the  port  wardens  had  expended  since  their 
organization,  the  sum  of  71 21.  or  $1,898  66f,  and 
some  progress  made  in  deepening  the  harbour. 

It  appears  that  the  representations  of  the  grand  juries 
were  duly  appreciated,  for  a criminal  court  was  organis- 
ed for  the  county  and  town,  consisting  of  five  justices^ 
Samuel  Chase,  Esq.  being  appointed  chief  justice.  Male 
persons  convicted  of  felonies  and  some  other  offences, 
might  be  condemned  to  work  on  the  roads  leading  to 
the  town,  on  the  streets  or  harbour;  the  convicts  from 
other  counties  being  also  sent  to  the  same  labour. 
With  the  chief  justice,  who  received  a fixed  salary  in 
the  county  levy,  were  associated  four  of  the  county  jus- 
tices, paid  a per  diem  as  they  always  had  been,  and  who 
first  were,  John  Moale,  William  Russell,  Otho  H.  Wil- 
liams and  Lyde  Goodwin,  Esqs.  and  last  of  whom  were 
George  Salmon,  George  G.  Presbury,  Job  Smith  and 
Nicholas  Rogers,  Esqs.  William  Gibson,  Esq.  clerk  of 
the  county,  was  clerk,  and  the  sheriff  for  the  time  being 
sheriff  of  this  court  also.  This  court  appointed  the  con- 
stables and  superintended  the  night  watch,  and  was  an 
abridgement  of  the  authority  of  the  special  commission- 
ers favorable  to  the  town  police,  because  the  court  held 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


124 


[1785. 


its  commission  by  a more  certain  tenure  and  was  better 
compensated  for  time  devoted  to  public  duties. 

James  McHenry  Esq.  and  Doctor  John  Coulter  were 
elected  to  the  Assembly  after  a very  warm  contested 
election,  600  to  500  votes,  and  Thomas  Rutter  Esq. 
was  elected  sheriff.  At  the  entrance  of  Chester  river, 
on  the  1 7th  of  May,  at  night,  captain  John  De  Corse  of 
the  packet,  was  murdered  by  two  ruffians  he  had  taken 
on  board  here  as  passengers.  The  vessel  was  brought 
back  to  the  middle  branch  and  abandoned.  Exertions 
were  made  to  discover  the  murderers,  which  resulted 
in  the  arrest  of  Patrick  Cassidy,  who  had  forfeited  his 
pardon  for  former  offences  by  remaining  in  the  state, 
and  was,  with  one  John  Webb  another  convict,  execu- 
ted some  time  after. 

On  the  sixth  of  July  the  lightning  killed  a woman 
and  two  children  between  town  and  point.  In  March 
Samuel  Purviance  Esq.  formerly  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee of  this  town,  and  member  of  the  convention  of 
1774,  whilst  descending  the  Ohio,  with  others,  was 
made  captive  by  the  Indians  and  put  to  death  soon  after, 
as  was  reported  and  believed.  On  the  twenty  fifth  of 
October,  died  in  town,  aged  sixty  five  years,  the  Rev. 
John  S.  Gerrock,  first  minister  of  the  German  Lutheran 
Congregation,  being  some  time  assisted  and  now  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Rev.  Daniel  Kurtz. 


Early  in  1789,  William  Smith  Esq.  is  elected  by 
general  ticket,  one  of  the  six  representatives  of  this 
state  in  congress,  and  Robert  Smith  Esq.  in  the  same 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


1 25 


1788.] 

manner,  one  of  the  eight  electors  of  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

General  Washington  having  been  unanimously  cho- 
sen President  of  the  United  States,  passed  through 
Baltimore  the  seventeenth  of  April,  1789,  on  his  way 
to  congress  at  New  York.  On  this  occasion  he  was 
entertained  at  supper  by  the  citizens,  and,  to  the  ad- 
dress delivered  him,  he  replied,  “the  tokens  of  regard 
and  affection  which  I have  often  received  from  the 
citizens  of  this  town,  were  always  acceptable,  because 
I believed  them  always  sincere”  &c.  adding  this  decla- 
ration, by  the  strict  adherence  to  which  he  secured  for 
his  memory  that  reverence  which  is  nowr  and  probably 
will  ever  be  paid  to  true  merit  by  civilized  man.  “Hav- 
ing UNDERTAKEN  THE  TASK  FROM  A SENSE  OF  DUTY,  NO 
FEAR  OF  ENCOUNTERING  DIFFICULTIES,  AND  NO  DREAD 
OF  LOSING  POPULARITY,  SHALL  EVER  DETER  ME  FROM 
PURSUING  WHAT  I CONCEIVE  TO  BE  THE  TRUE  INTER- 
ESTS OF  MY  COUNTRY.” 

Laws  having  passed  by  congress  to  carry  the  federal 
constitution  into  effect,  the  President  appointed 
General  O.  H.  Williams,  collector,  Robert  Purviance 
Esq.  Naval  Officer,  and  Colonel  Robert  Ballard,  survey- 
or of  this  port.  High  duties  were  imposed  on  wine, 
spirits  and  other  luxuries,  and  duties  sufficient  to  pro- 
tect the  domestic  manufacture  of  soap,  candles,  hats, 
shoes,  nails  &c,  were  laid,  fifty  cents  per  ton  on  foreign 
vessels,  and  on  other  articles  imported , seven  and  a 
half  to  ten  per  cent  which  were  soon  after  increased  to 
twelve  and  a half  and  fifteen  per  cent,  ad  valorem 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


I 2ti 


[1789. 


Other  appointments  were,  Thomas  Johnson  esq.  but 
he  declining,  William  Paca  esq.  judge  of  the  District 
court  for  Maryland;  Richard  Potts  esq.  attorney;  colo- 
nel Nathaniel  Ramsay,  marshall,  and  captain  Joshua 
Barney,  clerk;  who  held  their  first  session  in  Baltimore 
the  first  June  of  the  year  following,  but  occasionally, 
at  Easton  and  Annapolis  for  some  years.  John  White 
esq.  agent  for  the  settlement  of  continental  accounts  at 
Annapolis,  declining,  captain  A.  Furnival  is  appointed 
post  master. 

Alexander  McGilvray  a well  educated  half  blood 
chief  and  other  chiefs  of  the  Creek  Indians,  who  had 
lately  been  formidable  enemies  to  the  south,  pass 
through  Baltimore  on  a visit  to  the  government,  and 
fifteen  years  after  a number  of  Osage  chiefs  and  others 
from  beyond  the  Mississippi  visit  the  town. 

Doctors  Johnson,  Boyd,  Goodwin,  Brown,  Gilder, 
Buchanan,  Wiesenthal,  the  two  last  then  lately  return- 
ed from  Europe,  and  others  form  a medical  society,  of 
which  the  first  named  gentleman  was  president.  The 
body  of  Cassidy,  lately  executed,  was  obtained  for 
dissection  but  was  discovered  by  the  populace  and 
taken  from  the  gentlemen  who  were  then  studying 
anatomy  or  surgery  in  the  town.  However,  doctor 
George  Buchanan  delivered  a course  of  lectures  on 
obstetricks.  The  ensuing  year  doctor  Andrew  Wies- 
enthal delivered  a course  of  lectures  upon  anatomy, 
when  lectures  upon  other  branches  of  medical  science 
were  also  announced ; viz.  by  doctor  George  Brown  on 
the  theory  and  practice  of  Physic,  by  doctor  Lyde 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


127 


1789.] 

Goodwin  on  the  theory  and  practice  of  Surgery,  and  by 
doctor  Samuel  Coale  on  Chemistry  and  Materia 
Medica. 

The  essay  to  form  a medical  school  which  those 
learned  gentlemen  so  early  undertook,  failed  then,  to  be 
successfully  accomplished  by  others,  when  the  popula- 
tion had  increased  with  the  wealth  and  wants  of 
society. 

A great  many  persons  joined  the  Methodist  congre- 
gation and  for  the  first  time,  a preacher  was  stationed  in 
the  town,  and  a church  built  by  that  society  on  Green 
now  Exeter,  near  Gay  street. 

Messrs.  Englehard  Yeiser  and  others  owning  the 
grounds,  cut  a new  channel  for  the  falls  from  the 
lower  mill  at  Bath  street,  across  the  meadow  to  Gay 
street  bridge*,  of  which  channel  the  bounds  are  fixed 
by  ordinance  of  the  city  in  1803,  and  the  old  course  of 
the  falls  by  the  court  house,  gradually  filled  up.  After 
which  it  became  a dispute  to  whom  the  ground  thus 
made  belonged,  which  was  finally  divided  between  the 
parties  owning  the  adjoining  lands,  where  there  were  dis- 
tinct owners.  Mr.  Christopher  Cruse  who  had  improv- 
ed the  mud  machine  whilst  in  the  employ  of  the  port 
wardens,  aided  by  his  son  Englehard,  erected  a grist 
mill  near  Pratt  street,  introduced  steam  power  and 
ground  corn  as  now  done,  but  failed  after  expending  a 
considerable  sum  to  effect  the  completion  of  his  invert 
tion,  for  want  of  capital. 

A society  for  promoting  the  “abolition  of  slavery,  and 
for  the  relief  of  free  negroes,  and  others,  unlawfully 
held  in  bondage,”  was  organised,  of  which  Philip  Rogers^ 


128  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1789. 

Esq.  was  chosen  President  and  Mr.  Joseph  Townsend 
Secretary;  but  some  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  state 
legislature  in  1792,  caused  them  to  discontinue;  upon 
which  they  transferred  the  building  they  had  erected  on 
Sharpe  street,  for  an  African  School,  to  the-religious 
people  of  colour,  who  made  additions  to  it.  Another 
society  called  the  Protection  Society,  was  formed  in 
1817,  which  was  intended  nearly  for  the  same  objects. 
Of  this  society  the  late  Mr.  Elisha  Tyson,  of  the  socie- 
ty of  Friends,  was  a most  active  member.  Actuated  by 
motives  no  less  benevolent,  but  guided  by  more  pru- 
dence perhaps,  than  their  predecessors;  many  useful 
persons  of  colour  were  duly  protected,  and  incorrigible 
servants  sold  and  transported,  without  interference  of 
the  magistracy  or  of  the  society. 

Samuel  Sterett,  Esq.  was  elected  in  the  place  of  Dr. 
Coulter  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  Assembly. 

Asa  relief  to  the  pecuniary  distresses  of  the  inhabi- 
tants an  association  was  formed  by  Messrs.  Caton,  Yan- 
bibber,  A.  McKim,  Townsend  and  others  to  carry  on 
the  manufacture  of  cotton  upon  a small  scale,  and  some 
jeans  and  velvets  were  made.  The  carding  was  per- 
formed by  the  newly  invented  machinery  and  small 
hand  jennies  were  introduced,  and  if  circumstances  had 
required,  would  no  doubt  have  been  extended  and  con- 
tinued. 

With  the  commencement  of  the  French  Revolution, 
there  happened  a real  or  fictitious  scarcity  in  France, 
Portugal  and  some  other  European  countries,  which  im- 
mediately raised  the  price  of  the  staple  of  wheat  from 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


129 


1790.] 

80  to  1 25  cents  per  bushel,  and  flour  in  proportion; 
which  soon  rendered  these  means  of  public  relief  unne- 
cessary. It  was  indeed  at  November  session  1790,  that 
Messrs.  Samuel  Smith,  William  Patterson,  Jeremiah 
Yellot,  Englehard  Yeiser,  Robert  Gilmor,  Thorowgood 
Smith,  Charles  Garts,  Thomas  Hollingsworth,  James 
Edwards,  James  Carey,  Otho  H.  Williams  and  Nicho- 
las Sluby,  were  authorised  to  take  subscriptions  for  the 
Bank  of  Maryland.  $200,000  were  subscribed  in 
shares  of  $100  each,  in  fourteen  days,  being  two  thirds 
of  the  capital,  which  was  paid  in  during  the  ensuing 
year,  and  the  institution  wrent  into  operation  upon  a por- 
tion of  the  capital.  William  Patterson,  Esq.  being 
elected  President,  and  Ebenezer  Mackie,  Esq.  Cashier. 

The  entire  capital  of  $300,000  was  afterwards  com- 
pleted. The  state  granted  peculiar  advantages  to  this 
institution,  which  was  perpetual,  and  reserved  no  part  of 
the  stock  or  direction. 

Few  of  the  notes  of  “the  Bank  of  North  America,”  at 
Philadelphia,  had  reached  Baltimore  at  the  time,  and 
none  of  the  Banks  of  New  York  or  Boston,  but  the 
officers  of  “the  Bank  of  the  United  States,”  chartered 
by  congress  in  1790,  thought  proper  to  open  a branch 
here  early  in  1792,  of  which  the  parent  board  appointed 
George  Gale,  Esq.  President,  and  David  Harris,  Esq. 
Cashier. 

The  exorbitant  dividends  made  by  the  first  Bank  in- 
dicated the  want  of  another,  notwithstanding  the  loans 
afforded  by  the  office  of  the  United  States  Bank;  but  by 


17 


130 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1790. 

their  means,  a much  larger  sum  was  obtained,  with 
much  less  diffiuclty,  for  a new  one.  Accordingly 
in  1795,  the  u Bank  of  Baltimore”  was  chartered,  af- 
ter an  ineffectual  attempt  to  increase  the  capital  of  the 
first  Bank  The  capital  of  this  was  $1,200,000,  George 
Salmon,  Esq.  President  and  James  Cox,  Esq.  Cashier. 
The  charter  of  this  Bank  was  limited  to  twenty  years 
and  the  state  reserving  the  right  to  subscribe  for  6000 
shares  at  300  dollars  each,  has  actually  paid  $106,200, 
and  appoints  two  of  seventeen  directors  annually  chos- 
en. The  charter  has  served  as  a model  for  others,  and 
has  been  itself  renewed. 

By  an  act  passed  the  same  session,  1790,  Messrs. 
John  Hollins  and  Joshua  Barney  are  appointed  auction- 
eers, and  commence  business  under  the  firm  of  John 
Hollins  & Co.  after  which  the  limitation  was  removed 
and,  by  the  charter,  the  auctions  are  licensed  by  the  city. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  John  Carroll,  who,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  revolution  had  been  employed,  with  others,  in  a 
political  embassy  to  the  Canadians  by  congress,  on  the 
application  of  the  Catholic  clergy,  was  consecrated  in 
England  a Bishop  of  that  church,  to  reside  in  Balti- 
more, and  returned  here  in  1790.  In  1796  a small 
chapel  was  built  on  the  Point,  which  was  succeeded 
by  St.  Patrick’^  church,  on  Point  Market  street,  in 
1807.  The  German  Catholics  erected  the  church  on 
Saratoga  street,  in  1799,  and  St.  Mary’s,  a Catholic 
church  at  the  College,  of  which  Maximilian  Godfrey, 
Esq.  was  architect,  was  finished  in  1807.  Under  the 
auspices  of  the  Bishop,  the  foundation  of  the  Cathedral 
in  Charles  street,  the  design  of  which  was  furnished  by 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


131 


1790.] 

the  late  Benjamin  H.  Latrobe,  Esq.  was  laid  in  1806; 
and  four  years  after  the  Bishop  became  an  Arch  Bishop. 

Sea  vessels  paid  wharfage  one  dollar  first  two  days 
each,  and  four  dollars  per  day  afterwards;  and  three 
pence  per  cord  of  cord  wood.  It  appears  that  the  port 
wardens  received  this  year  88/.  19s.  8 d.  and  expended 
the  same,  and  that  the  amount  of  taxes  received  or 
charges  paid  by  the  special  commissioners,  was  each 
1,927/.  17s.  8 d.  exclusive  of  paving  accounts.  The  ex- 
pense of  the  new  court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  of  the 
town  and  county  for  the  year,  was  1,994/.  9s.  6c/.;  forty 
five  watchmen  and  officers,  846/.  3s.  Id.  total  2,840/. 
13s.  Id.  The  first  account  was  levied  upon  town  and 
county  property,  viz.  1,424,502/.  3s.  9 d.  at  3s. 

and  Id.  per  centum;  the  latter  sum  was  provided  for 
in  a balance  of  fines,  licenses  and  special  taxes.  There 
was  besides,  the  amount  of  fifty  five  pounds  paid  for  a 
slave  condemned  to  work  on  the  roads:  This  might  be 
compensated  in  his  labour,  and  fair  enough;  but, the  pro- 
priety of  taxing  the  public  to  pay  for  slaves  executed,  as 
still  practised,  whilst  free  widows  and  orphans  are  de- 
prived of  their  husbands  and  fathers,  executed  pursu- 
ant to  law,  without  compensation,  is  more  than  doubtful. 

According  to  a list  published,  the  sea  vessels  belong- 
ing to  this  port,  consisted  of  twenty  seven  ships,  6701 
tons;  one  snow,  eighty  tons;  thirty  one  brigs,  3770 
tons;  thirty  four  schooners, 2454  tons,  and  nine  sloops, 
559  tons,  together  102  vessels,  13,564  tons. 


132 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1790. 


Exports  from  Baltimore,  from  1st  October,  1789,  to  1st  July,  1790. 


Bees  Wax 

Butter 

Bread 

Bricks 

Beef 

Candles 

Cheese 

Corn 

Cotton 

Deer  Skins 

Flour 

Furs 

Flaxseed 

Fish 


74  casks 
25  tirkins 
5,558  bbls. 
16,100 
196  bbls. 

23  boxes 
2,390  lbs. 
208,195  bushels 
134  bales 
51  packages 
127,284  bbls. 

20  packages 
2,152  casks 
1,344  bbls. 


Genseng 

14  casks 

Pig  Iron 

571  tons 

Bar  Iron 

4 tons 

Meal 

2,954  bbls. 

Pork 

383  bbls. 

Peas  and  Beans  4,145  bushels 

Rice 

1,286  casks 

Shingles 

2,118,724 

Scantling 

516,690  feet 

Staves 

874,598 

Tobacco 

9,442  hhds 

Tar 

1,140  bbls 

T urpentine 

50  bbls 

Wheat 

228,062  bushels 

According  to  the  first  census  taken  by  the  general 
government,  the  population  of  the  city  and  precincts  in 
1790  amounted  to  13,503  persons  of  all  descriptions, 
viz.  white  males  6,422 ; females  5,503 ; other  free  per- 
sons 323;  slaves  1,255. 

In  the  fall  of  1789  and  spring  of  1790,  there  raged 
throughout  the  country,  commencing  at  the  south,  an 
epidemic  called  the  influenza  which  was  fatal  in  some 
instances.  It  was  remarked  that  the  summer  of  the 
former  year  had  been  uncommonly  warm,  the  mean 
temperature  of  the  air  at  Philadelphia  for  September, 
being  seventy  five,  and  for  October  sixty-three,  with 
great  drought;  and  that,  like  the  yellow  fever  which  fol- 
lowed, it  was  contagious  in  the  atmosphere  but  not  by 
personal  communication.  It  w as  called  by  some  of  the 
faculty  an  epidemic  putrid  cold,  and  w as  said  to  be  pro- 
duced by  sudden  vegetable  putrefaction,  as  the  other 
disease  is  thought  to  be. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


IBS 


1790.] 

On  the  7th  of  May,  1790,  the  first  session  of  the  cir- 
cuit court  of  the  United  States  for  this  district,  was  held 
here,  by  John  Blair  Esq.  of  Virginia,  one  of  the  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  William  Paca  Esq.  district 
Judge. 

Samuel  Sterett  Esq.  is  elected  by  general  ticket,  one 
of  the  six  representatives  of  this  state  in  congress. — - 
There  was  a Chesapeake  ticket  and  a Patawmack  tick- 
et, the  former  of  which  prevailed,  but  Mr.  Sterett  who 
succeeded  Mr.  William  Smith,  was  on  both  tickets,  and, 
David  McMechen  Esq.  late  member,  and  colonel  Sam- 
uel Smith  were  returned  to  the  house  of  delegates  as 
representatives  of  the  town,  without  opposition. 

On  the  28th  of  June  1790,  died  at  his  residence  near 
town,  captain  Charles  Ridgely,  one  of  the  framers  of 
the  Constitution  and  many  years  a delegate  of  the  coun- 
ty to  the  general  assembly. 

In  1791,  Messrs.  Robert  Gilmor,  John  O’Donnell 
Stephen  Wilson,  Charles  Ghequiere,  John  Holmes  and 
others  erected  a Powder  Mill  on  Gwinn’s  falls,  which 
was  continued  by  the  same  or  others,  until  17th  of  Sep- 
tember 1812,  it  was  blown  up  a second  time  and  not 
rebuilt,  other  mills  having  been  erected  in  the  mean 
time,  that  is,  the  Etna  works,  on  the  same  stream,  built 
in  1812,  and  chartered  in  1815;  and  Bellonaon  Jones’s 
falls,  built  in  1802  and  chartered  in  1814,  which  last 
has  twice  exploded,  and  on  each  occasion  several  lives 
lost,  but  rebuilt  and  continued. 

The  president  appoints  George  Gale  Esq.  supervisor 
of  the  internal  taxes  levied  by  congress. 


134 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1791. 

Judge  Chase,  still  judge  of  the  Criminal  Court,  is  ap  - 
pointed chief  justice  of  the  General  Court  of  this  state, 
in  the  place  of  Thomas  Johnson,  Esq.  appointed  one 
of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
By  a new  organization  of  the  courts  of  justice,  the  state 
is  divided  into  five  districts;  this  county  with  Anne 
Arundel  and  Harford  forms  the  third,  and  the  justices 
of  the  peace  cease  to  hold  courts  or  receive  any  per 
diem  either  for  civil  or  criminal  matters.  The  new 
courts  are  composed  of  one  Chief  Justice  for  each  dis- 
trict, paid  a certain  salary  from  the  Treasury,  and  two 
associates  in  each  county;  a per  diem  was  levied  for 
the  associates  in  the  Levy  of  the  counties,  and  certain 
taxes  imposed  towards  reimbursing  the  salaries  of  the 
Chief  Justices,  who  had  the  authority  of  Justices  of 
the  Peace,  except  in  matters  of  small  debts,  which  the 
latter  justices  were  still  to  determine  without  any  fee  or 
reward. 

Thomas  Johnson,  Esq.  was  appointed  Chief  Judge  of 
this  district,  but  he  did  not  accept;  and,  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  admiralty  court  being  superseded  by  the  general 
government,  Benjamin  Nicholson,  Esq.  is  appointed 
Chief  Judge  of  this  district  early  in  this  year;  the  asso- 
ciates were  General  Williams  and  James  Carroll,  Esq. 
Judge  Nicholson  departed  this  life  the  year  after  his 
appointment  and  was  succeeded  by  Joshua  Seney,  Esq. 
who  resigned  in  1796,  and  Henry  Ridgely,  Esq.  suc- 
ceeds. In  1792  Col.  Howard  and  William  Russell,  Esq. 
were  appointed  the  associate  judges  of  this  Court,  and 
successively,  Samuel  Sterrett,  William  Owings,  Wil- 
liam Winchester,  Edward  Johnson,  and  Elias  Glenn. 


1791.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  1 3o 

Esqrs.  the  two  last,  with  Judge  H.  Ridgely  forming  the 
Court  when  re-organized  in  1805. 

A new  Presbyterian  Church  built  on  the  scite  of  the 
former  one  on  East  street,  and  is  now  the  north  west 
corner  of  Fayette  and  North  streets,  was  dedicated  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Allison  on  the  third  of  July.  The 
plan  which  is  spacious  and  handsome,  was  executed  by 
Messrs.  John  Dalrymple  and  J.  Mosher,  builders.  The 
remains  of  the  dead,  who  had  been  interred  on  part  of 
the  lot,  were  then  removed  to  the  new  cemetry  belong- 
ing to  the  society,  Fayette  street.  The  new  church 
was  struck  by  lightning  on  the  afternoon  of  the  third 
of  August,  1805,  but  received  no  material  injury.  A 
small  church  was  erected  on  Pitt  street,  in  1800  by 
the  associate  Reformed  Presbyterians,  who  were  visited 
occasionally  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Annan. 

The  number  of  Presbyterians  being  greatly  increased , 
a “second  Presbyterian  Church,”  on  Baltimore  street, 
was  built  in  1804.  Mr.  George  Milleman  architect. 
Rev.  John  • Glendy  was  first  minister.  A church  is 
erected  on  Fayette  street,  Mr.  Robert  Watts  architect, 
in  1813,  also  reformed,  for  which  the  Rev.  JohnM. 
Duncan  was  appointed  minister;  the  congregation 
disposing  of  the  one  on  Pitt  street  to  a society  of  Cove- 
nanters, who  chose  the  Rev.  John  Gibson  for  minister. 
The  Presbyterians  in  1822,  erected  another  called  the 
third  Presbyterian  church,  on  north  Eutaw  street,  of 
which  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Walton  was  first  minister. 

An  assize  of  bread  was  fixed  by  the  special  com- 
missioners, the  two  penny  fine  loaf  to  weigh  thirteen 
ounces.  This  regulation  was  succeeded  by  another 


136 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1791. 

directing  loaves  to  be  of  one  pound  eight  ounces  or 
three  pound  weight,  ten  years  after,  by  the  corporation. 

Virginia  and  Massachusetts  having  ceeded  their  rights 
to  the  north  western  territory,  and  the  settlements  ex- 
tending beyond  the  Ohio,  a territorial  government  was 
organised  by  congress  in  1787,  and  General  Arthur 
St.  Clair  appointed  governor.  But  the  progress  of 
the  settlements  was  viewed  by  the  Indians  as  a usurpa- 
tion of  their  territorial  rights,  if  not  a prelude  to 
their  extirpation ; and,  countenanced  by  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  British  within  our  lines,  they  formed  a 
powerful  coalition  and  commenced  their  warfare  on  in- 
dividuals. The  general  government  found  it  neces- 
sary to  raise  a small  army  for  the  defence  of  that  fron- 
tier, in  which  several  of  our  citizens  took  commissions ; 
amongst  others,  Messrs.  William  Buchanan,  Campbell 
Smith  and  George  Chase.  On  the  4th  November,  1791, 
Gen.  St.  Clair,  with  a part  of  the  army  were  suddenly  at- 
tacked near  the  Miami  and  actually  surrounded  by  an 
immense  number,  who  were  expert  in  firing  from  behind 
trees  and  bushes.  The  Americans  defended  themselves 
with  great  bravery,  and  finally  fought  their  way  through 
the  enemy,  but  lost  in  killed  and  wounded,  above  S00 
men,  ensign  Chase  was  killed  and  captain  Buchanan 
wounded.  More  troops  being  placed  under  the  com 
mand  of  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne,  he,  on  the  20th  August, 
1794,  after  a bloody  contest  in  which  Capt.  C.  Smith 
was  dangerously  wounded,  defeated  the  Indians  near  the 
same  place  and  negociated  a treaty  of  peace  with  them. 

On  the  tenth  of  August  a youth  was  killed  on 
Smiths’  wharf  by  lightning,  which  also  struck 


1791.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  137 

the  German  church  on  Conway  street.  James  Cab 
houn  and  William  Russell  Esqrs.  and  Colonel  N. 
Rogers  were  appointed  justices  of  the  Orphans  court 
for  the  ensuing  year.  Colonel  Smith  and  Mr.  Mc- 
Mechen  were  again  returned  to  the  assembly,  and 
Robert  Gorsuch  Esq.  was  elected  Sheriff  on  the  expi- 
ration of  Mr.  Rutters  time  of  acting. 

Samuel  Sterett,  Esq.  agent  of  Messrs.  Vanstaphorst 
& Co.  procured  from  the  state  and  paid  them  the 
amount  loaned  during  the  war  of  Independence;  and 
Jas.  Barry,  Esq.  who  had  lately  came  from  Portugal, 
was  appointed  vice  consul  for  Maryland  and  Virginia. 

At  the  periodical  election  of  1791,  John  O’Donnell, 
Esq.  was  chosen  an  elector  of  the  Senate,  and  John  E. 
Howard,  Samuel  Chase  and  James  McHenry.  Esqs. 
were  elected  members  of  the  Senate  of  Maryland.  Mr. 
Chase  declined  and  Daniel  Bowley,  Esq.  w as  chosen  in 
his  place,  and  he,  resigning  in  1793,  was  succeeded  by 
Robert  Smith,  Esq. 

In  October,  1792,  Mr.  Potts  resigned  the  office  of 
Attorney  of  the  United  States  for  this  district,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Zebulon  Hollingsworth,  Esq.  The  at- 
torneys wdio  have  succeeded  him,  were  John  Stephen, 
Thomas  B.  Dorsey  and  Elias  Glenn,  Esqs.  On  the 
1st  November,  1792,  was  held  in  this  city,  the  first  re- 
gular general  conference  of  the  Methodist  church. 
On  the  17th  September,  1792,  the  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Clag- 
gett  was  ordained  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  of  Maryland,  and  the  Rev.  Joseph  G.  J.  Bend 
succeeds  Dr.  West,  Rector  of  St.  Pauls,  deceased. 

18 


133 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1792. 

In  1792,  the  clergymen  and  ministers  of  the  different 
sects  or  churches  were  incorporated,  to  receive  alms  for 
the  poor  of  every  society. 

The  Roman  Catholic  clergy  were  incorporated,  and 
in  1 7 95,  trustees  of  that  church,  when  the  German  re- 
formed congregation  was  also  incorporated.  In  1797, 
the  German  Evangelical  Reformed  and  Presbyterian 
churches,  and  in  1798,  the  Baptist  congregation  and  the 
vestry  of  every  parish.  In  1S00  the  Methodist  and 
Lutheran,  and  in  1S02,  every  Christian  church  in  the 
state. 

An  act  is  passed  providing  for  the  inspection  of  pot 
and  pearl  ashes.  An  act  dividing  the  state  into  districts 
to  elect  members  of  congress,  was  passed  in  1791,  in 
anticipation  of  the  census  then  to  be  returned.  Con- 
gress having  fixed  the  ratio  of  representation  at  one 
member  for  every  33,000  persons,  the  general  ticket 
system  is  abandoned  and  the  state  divided  into  eight  dis- 
tricts, of  which  Baltimore  town  and  county  was  the  5th, 
and  elected  colonel  Samuel  Smith  one  of  the  eight  mem- 
bers to  which  the  state  was  entitled. 

As  the  principles  of  an  independent  government  are 
here  combined  with  those  of  a confederacy  of  govern- 
ments, and  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  admits 
the  senators  as  the  representatives  of  the  states,  it  is 
necessary  that  the  representatives  in  congress  should 
be  elected  by  the  people  as  direct  as  possible,  and  not 
by  the  body,  or  by  their  state  governments,  or  the  con- 
stitution is  not  fairly  executed  and  its  principles  violated. 
Nor  can  the  delegates  to  the  Assembly  constitute  them- 
selves electors  of  President,  while  the  constitution  pro- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


139 


1792.] 

vides  for  a distinct  body  to  make  choice  of  that  officer, 
and  to  retain  the  authority  to  elect  or  appoint  others  to 
be  electors,  which  the  members  of  the  state  government 
are  prohibited  to  be  themselves,  is  an  evasion  of  the  con- 
stitution, if  not  a dereliction  of  its  terms.  The  dis- 
trict system  was  therefore  wisely  extended  to  the  elec- 
tion of  electors,  after  General  Washington’s  re- 
election,  in  which  Messrs.  William  Smith  and  J.  E. 
Howard  were  two  of  ten  electors  for  this  state,  and 
before  a canvass  was  commenced  for  a successor  in 
1796.  That  is  in  1795,  provision  was  made  for  the 
election  of  electors  of  President  by  districts  also,  and 
for  this  the  state  was  divided  into  ten  districts,  of 
which  Anne  Arundel  county,  Annapolis  and  Baltimore 
town  was  the  fifth  and  chose  one  elector.  By  an  act 
passed  in  1802,  that  is  after  the  general  census  of  1800, 
the  state  was  entitled  to  nine  congressmen  and  the  city 
and  county  to  two  members,  that  is  one  residing  in  each, 
jointly  elected.  Part  of  Montgomery  county,  with 
Anne  Arundel  and  the  cities  of  Baltimore  and  Annapo- 
lis, being  one  of  nine  districts,  elect  two  electors  of 
President  and  Vice-President.  In  1805,  regulations 
for  the  election  of  senators  of  the  state  legislature  were 
passed,  the  city  and  county  of  Baltimore  electing  one 
each. 

Seldom  more  than  three  of  the  justices  attended  the 
orphans  court  and  the  governor  and  council  were  di- 
rected to  appoint  that  number  only,  any  two  of  whom 
to  act,  and  by  special  commission  Colonel  N.  Rogers, 
G.  Salmon  and  William  McLaughlin  Esqrs.  were  np- 


140 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1792, 

pointed ; Colonel  S.  Smith  was  elected  member  of  con- 
gress and  John  O’Donnell  Esq.  delegate  to  the  assembly. 

The  war  which  commenced  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  in  1792,  being  extended  to  Great  Britian  in  the 
commencement  of  1793,  it  became  necessary  to  protect 
our  commerce  by  a declaration  of  neutrality,  which 
was  announced  by  the  President  the  twenty  third  of 
April,  and  the  merchants  of  Baltimore  presented  him 
an  approbatory  address  soon  after. 

The  agents  of  the  French  convention  at  Cape  Francois , 
having  tendered  their  liberty  to  such  slaves  as  should 
take  arms  against  the  former  government  of  Hispaniola, 
General  Galbaud  and  Admiral  Gambis  attacked  the 
town,  and  it  was  plundered  and  burned  by  the  seamen 
and  negroes  the  twenty  first  of  June;  and  on  the  ninth 
of  July,  fifty  three  vessels  bearing  about  1000  white 
and  500  people  of  colour,  flying  from  the  disaster,  ar- 
rive in  Baltimore.  Many  were  quartered  in  the  hou- 
ses of  the  citizens,  who  besides,  subscribed  above 
$ 12000,  for  the  relief  of  such  as  were  destitute. 
Those  more  fortunate  who  brought  capitals,  entered 
into  trade,  others  introduced  new  arts  or  cultivation  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  with  succeeding  arrivals  from 
the  southern  and  western  parts  of  the  Island,  contribu- 
ted to  encrease  the  wealth  as  well  as  the  population  of 
the  town. 

Philadelphia  being  visited  by  an  alarming  mortality 
from  the  disease  called,  “yellow  fever,”  then  generally 
supposed  to  be  imported  and  contagious,  Governor  Lee. 
interdicts  all  direct  intercourse  with  that  city  and  the 


141 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1793. 

admission  of  infected  vessels,  appointing  Doctors  John 
Ross  and  John  Worthington  to  be  health  officers.  A 
temporary  hospital  to  be  procured  for  mariners  of  such 
vessels,  and  a duty,  confirmed  by  congress,  of  one  cent 
per  ton  is  granted  towards  the  expense. 

Messrs.  Thomas  Yates  and  Daniel  Bowley  commence 
their  improvements  on  the  water  between  the  falls  and 
Harford  run.  Messrs.  Cumberland  Dugan  and  Thomas 
McElderry  commence  their  wharves  below  the  Centre 
market,  extending  from  Water  steeet  to  the  north  side 
of  the  channel,  a distance  of  1600  feet.  Nine  years 
after  Judge  Chase  commenced  his  wharf  binding  on  the 
west  side  of  the  falls. 

Since  the  last  notice  in  1 783,  there  had  been  a great 
accession  of  settlers,  amongst  whom  were  Messrs. 
Hugh  Thompson,  Edward  Ireland,  William  Lorman, 
Thomas  Tenant,  John  Holmes,  Joseph  Thornburgh, 
Robert  Miller,  John  Donnell,  Luke  Tieman,  Solomon 
Birkhead,  Solomon  Betts,  James  H.  McCulloh,  Steuart 
Brown,  Leon  Changeur,  John  Carrere,  Henry  Di- 
rtier, A.  McDonald,  J.  P.  Pleasants,  Barclay  and  Mc- 
Kean, S.  Etting,  James  Corrie,  James  Armstrong,  &c. 

The  subject  of  a city  charter,  which  had  occupied  the 
writers  in  the  papers  and  the  citizens  generally  for  near 
ten  years,  was  taken  up  by  the  legislature  in  1793,  and 
an  act  passed  for  consideration,  but  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Point,  and  the  mechanical,  the  carpenters  and  re- 
publican societies,  then  lately  formed  for  other  purposes, 
took  part  in  opposition,  and  it  was  not  carried  into 
effect. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


142 


1793.] 

There  was  an  effort  made  by  a number  of  merchants 
to  open  an  exchange  for  the  transaction  of  business,  and 
the  buildings  at  the  south  west  corner  of  Water  and 
Commerce  streets  were  fitted  up  and  used  for  the  pur- 
pose, but  after  some  time  was  discontinued.  George 
Hammond  Esq.  having  been  appointed  consul  general 
from  Great  Britain  to  the  United  States;  Edward 
Thornton  Esq.  now  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  is  appoin- 
ted vice  consul  for  Maryland  and  comes  to  Baltimore. 

Several  Lodges  of  free  masons  had  been  established 
in  Baltimore  under  the  grand  lodges  of  Pennsylvania  or 
Virginia,  and  as  early  as  1788,  D.  Stodder,  worshipful 
master  of  No.  1 5,  now  6,  and  officers,  obtain  a warrant 
from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Maryland , held  at  Easton 
at  different  times  since  the  year  1783.  On  the  eighth 
of  May,  1794,  the  Grand  Lodge,  Henry  Wilmans  R. 
W.  G.  M.  Lambert  Smith  G.  Secretary,  assemble  in 
this  town. 

A company  of  mounted  volunteers  had  put  themselves 
under  command  of  capts.  Plunket  and  Moore  again,  of 
which  Samuel  Hollingsworth  Esq.  who  had  been  an 
officer  in  the  troop,  became  commander  soon  after. 
A volunteer  company  of  artillery  was  formed,  com- 
manded by  captain  Stodder,  and  a company  of  riflemen 
by  captain  James  Allen. 

The  Neutrality  being  much  infringed  by  the  mar- 
ritime  powers  at  war,  the  President  announces  a gene  - 
ral embargo  for  thirty  days  by  congress,  and  the  news 
was  received  here  with  much  satisfaction  on  the  twenty 
eighth  of  March  1794.  On  the  expiration  of  which, 
a captain  Ramsdall,  who  in  a fit  of  intoxication,  had 


14S 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1794. 

hoisted  his  colours  half  mast,  at  the  point,  was  violently 
seized  by  the  populace  andtarred  and  feathered,  as  well 
as  a young  man  namned  Sinton,  who  had  been  an  appren- 
tice to  Mr.  Stodder,  who  was  a ship  carpenter,  for 
which  the  latter  was  arrested,  and  denying  intentional 
participation  in  either  case,  after  much  altercation,  gave 
bail,  and  was  with  Mr.  John  Steel  and  others  dischar- 
ged. The  extraordinary  pretensions  and  naval  power 
of  the  British  rendered  them  most  obnoxious  and  it 
was  thought  a war  with  them  could  scarcely  be  avoided ; 
but  as  the  surest  means  of  preserving  peace  with 
honour,  the  President  invited  serious  preparation  here 
both  for  offence  and  defence,  whilst  his  minister  Mr. 
Jay,  with  the  terms  of  accommodation  prescribed,  was 
waiting  in  London  their  acceptance.  The  fort  at 
Whetstone  point  was  repaired  and  the  star  fort  of  brick 
work,  added.  It  was  afterwards  ceded  to  the  United 
States  and  called  fort  McHenry. 

Agreeably  to  the  act  of  congress  of  the  year  before 
and  the  provisions  made  by  the  legislature,  Governor 
Stone  appoints  Colonol  Smith  Major  General  of  the 
third  division,  Colonel  Hall  and  Howard  declining,  and 
Col.  Swan  and  Charles  Ridgely  of  Hampton  esq. 
Brigadier  Generals,  the  first  for  the  third  brigade  and 
the  latter  for  the  eleventh  brigade  of  Maryland  Militia, 
and  a general  enrolment  takes  place.  Considerable 
amendments  were  made  by  the  assembly  during  the  par- 
tial hostilities  against  France  in  1798. 

In  1807,  a new  law  was  passed,  and  General  Swan’s 
declining  health  obliged  him  to  resign,  when  Colonel 
Strieker  was  appointed  Brigadier  General  in  his  place. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


144 


1794.] 

The  cavalry  being  placed  under  their  own  field  officers 
in  1809,  General  Ridgely  resigns,  when  he  is  succeeded 
by  Tobias  E.  Stausbury,  Esq. 

Captain  Barney  having  resigned  the  office  of  clerk 
of  the  district  court  the  year  before,  took  command  of 
a merchant  vessel,  in  which  he  was  made  prisoner  by 
the  British.  They  took  him  to  Jamaica,  condemned  his 
vessel  and  affected  to  try  him  for  piracy;  but  he  was  ac- 
quitted  at  the  moment  he  was  demanded  by  the  Presi- 
dent, and  indemnity  was  received  for  the  vessel  after- 
wards. Captain  Barney  was  selected  to  command  one 
of  the  frigates  to  be  built  by  the  general  government, 
but  not  being  satisfied  in  respect  to  rank,  he  declined, 
soon  after  went  to  France,  and  entered  into  the  ser- 
vice of  that  republic.  Commanding  in  1797,  on  the  St. 
Domingo  station,  he  visited  the  Chesapeake,  eluded  the 
British  and  returned  to  the  cape  in  safety.  Capt.  Bar- 
ney was  succeeded  by  Philip  Moore,  Esq.  as  clerk  of 
the  District  Court. 

The  government  intending  to  fit  out  several  vessels 
of  war  at  this  port,  captain  Jeremiah  Yellot  is  appointed 
navy  agent,  and  Mr.  David  Stodder,  builder. 

The  criminal  court  was  abolished  in  1794.  The 
justices  of  the  county  court  being  then  Joshua  Seney. 
Esq.  chief  justice,  William  Russell  and  William  Owings 
Esqs.  associates,  made  justices  of  the  criminal  court  also. 
Judge  Seney  resigned,  being  succeeded  as  before  men- 
tioned, by  Henry  Ridgley,  Esq.  and  in  the  year  1797. 
the  criminal  business  of  the  city  and  county  was  sepa- 
rated, and  so  continued  until  a new  criminal  court  was 
organised  in  1800. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


145 


1794] 

The  opponents  of  internal  taxes,  burn  the  house  of 
Mr.  Nevil,  excise  officer  near  Pittsburg,  and  on  the  7 th 
of  August,  the  President  issues  a proclamation  and  or- 
ders out  drafts  of  Militia  to  go  against  them ; above  500 
leave  Baltimore  under  the  command  of  General  Smith, 
Colonels  Strieker  and  Clemm,  on  the  8th  September, 
who  return  from  the  westward,  on  the  submission  of  the 
insurgents,  towards  the  close  of  the  year.  Before  their 
departure,  however,  the  yellow  fever  made  its  appear- 
ance in  the  town,  and  Messrs.  Gustavus  Scott,  George 
Salmon,  Jos.  Townsend,  Alexander  M’Kim,  Jesse  Hol- 
lingsworth, Thomas  Johnson  and  Thomas  Dixon  were 
appointed  a committee  of  health.  There  were  344 
deaths  by  the  fever  and  other  diseases,  during  the 
months  of  August  and  September;  The  malady  did  not 
cease  until  the  15th  October,  and  Capt.  James  Allen, 
who  had  conducted  his  company  of  Riflemen  as  far  as 
Frederick,  returned  invalid,  and,  with  other  meritorious 
citizens,  fell  a victim  to  the  fatal  disease. 

The  site  of  the  Hospital  was  then  selected  by  Capt. 
Yellot  and  others,  as  a temporary  retreat  for  the  Stran- 
gers and  Sea-faring  people;  which  being  purchased  of 
him  in  1798,  by  the  Commissioners  of  health,  for  the 
City,  and  aided  by  the  State,  was  improved  and  contin- 
ued to  be  so  used,  until  in  1808,  it  was  leased  on  cer- 
tain improving  conditions,  to  Doctors  Smyth  and  Mac- 
kenzie, who  receive  the  seamen  by  agreement  with  the 
government,  or  individuals,  on  terms  wrhich  the  respec- 
tive parties  make ; visitors  being  appointed  by  the  cor- 
poration which  may  also  send  patients  at  a stipulated 

19 


140 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1794. 

price ; but  the  Legislature  has  assumed  the  property  and 
control  of  the  premises,  after  the  expiration  of  the 
lease,  by  their  acts  of  1797  and  1816.  It  was  also  in 
1794,  that  the  same  Commissioners  purchased  for  a pot- 
ters field,  a lot  of  ground  opposite  the  hospital ; for 
which  purpose  other  lots  have  since  been  purchased  on 
the  East  and  on  the  West  of  the  City,  at  the  expense  ol  the 
corporation.  After  the  interval  of  three  years,  the  City 
w as  afflicted  wfitli  this  disease  again,  and  lost  many  in- 
habitants; also,  in  1799  and  1800,  and  partially  in  1819 
and  1820.  It  was  at  these  periods,  and  particularly  on 
account  of  the  fever,  that  many  citizens  fled  from  the 
town  with  their  families,  where  it  appears  the  fever 
did  not  reach  them,  and  some  of  them  erected  country 
residences  w hich  now  ornament  the  vicinity. 

Notwithstanding  these  apparent  obstacles,  Messrs. 
Wignell  and  Reinagale  aided  by  a subscription  of 
shares,  completed  a small  wooden  Theatre  on  Holliday 
Street,  which  Messrs.  Warren  and  Wood,  with  like  as- 
sistance and  during  the  blockade  of  1 81 S,  rebuilt  of 
brick,  by  a design  of  Mr.  Robins,  artist,  attached  to  the 
company;  Messrs.  Robert  C.  Long,  William  Stewart 
and  James  Mosher,  builders. 

George  G.  Presbury,  Esq.  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Justices  of  the  Orphans  Court.  Alexander  M’Kim  and 
Jas.  Winchester,  Esqs.  are  elected  delegates  to  the  As- 
sembly, and  Henry  Stevenson,  Esq.  is  again  elected 
Sheriff.  On  the  9th  June,  Died  John  Smith,  Esq.  one 
of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  and  lately  a Senator 
of  the  State  Legislature;  and  on  the  15th  July,  Gene- 
ral Otho  H.  Williams,  collector,  late  of  the  Maryland 


1794.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  147 

line  and  Adjt.  General  of  the  Southern  army.  General 
Williams  is  succeeded  in  the  collectors  office  by  Robt. 
Purviance,  Esq.  Col.  Nathaniel  Ramsey  becoming  Naval 
Officer  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Purviance,  Jacob  Graybell, 
Esq.  is  appointed  Marshall  of  this  district,  and  he  has 
been  succeeded  by  Messrs.  Reuben  Etting,  Thomas 
Rutter  and  Col.  Paul  Bentdlou,  successively. 

On  the  27th  July  1795,  a town  meeting  wras  held  at 
the  Court  House,  and  a committee  chosen  to  address  the 
President  on  the  subject  of  the  treaty  with  England,  ad- 
verse to  its  ratification.  The  answer  of  the  President 
referred  the  citizens  to  his  answer  to  the  select  men  of 
Boston;  in  which,  being  disposed  to  adopt  the  treaty,  he 
appeals  to  the  principles  of  conscious  rectitude  contain- 
ed in  his  answer  to  the  address  of  this  town,  on  his  first 
election  to  the  Presidency,  and  hopes  that  experience 
will  justify  him. 

In  1785  an  act  of  Assembly  had  passed  to  authorise 
the  acceptance  of  a lot  on  Saratoga  Street,  presented  the 
protestant  Episcopal  congregation  by  Col.  Howard,  for 
a parsonage,  which  is  now  finished  and  occupied  by 
Doctor  Bend . 

The  Vestry  of  St.  Paul’s  parish,  purchase  the  church 
at  Baltimore  Street  Bridge,  which  was  erected  by  Jacob 
Myers  and  others,  Dutch  Calvinists,  in  1785,  and  had 
been  injured  by  the  fresh  of  the  ensuing  year  and  re- 
paired, for  an  additional  protestant  episcopal  church,  to 
which  the  Vestry  gave  the  name  of  Christs  Church, 
and  in  1801,  they  raise  the  steeple  and  procure  a choir 
of  six  Bells.  TTpon  this  acquisition,  the  Rev,  John  Ire- 


148 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1795. 

land  was  appointed  associate  minister  of  the  parish, 
and  Mr.  Michael  Diffenderffer  and  others,  of  the  Dutch 
Calvinist  society,  who  had  procured  a parsonage  on  Se- 
cond Street  for  their  then  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Boehme,  erect  their  present  Church,  the  steeple  of  which 
built  by  Mr.  George  Rohrbach  in  1803,  was  slightly  in- 
jured by  lightning  at  the  time  of  raising.  The  success- 
ors of  Mr.  Rochme  were,  the  Revd.  Messrs.  Pomp, 
Trultenier,  Troyer,  Baker  and  Helfenstein  their  present 
minister. 

The  tonnage  of  the  State  reported  soon  after  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution,  was  36,305  tons  register- 
ed and  7,976  tons  licensed  and  enrolled  vessels,  but  in 
1795  the  former  was  4807  tons,  and  the  latter  24, 470  tons, 
of  which  the  proportion  of  the  district  of  Columbia 
north  of  the  Patowmack  was  about  one  seventh;  so  that 
in  the  space  of  five  years  only,  the  proportion  of  small- 
er vessels,  which  at  the  first  period  had  been  less  than 
a fourth  of  thq.  larger  kind,  had  become  equal  to  one 
half  of  the  increased  tonnage,  and  afforded  a conspicu- 
ous evidence  of  the  great  and  growing  importance  of  the 
Chesapeake  Bay;  while  the  favorable  situation  of  this 
town  to  reap  the  advantages  of  its  navigation  is  shown, 
not  only  by  the  known  increase  of  the  exports  and  im- 
ports, but  by  observations  made  by  Judge  Jones  from 
his  then  residence  at  North  Point,  at  which  place  had 
been  counted  passing  to  Baltimore,  in  1795,  109  ships, 
162  brigs,  350  sloops  and  schooners  and  5,464  bay  craft 
or  small  coasters.  Reference  to  the  increased  inspec- 
tions of  fish,  will  exhibit  another  practical  benefit  we 
derive  from  this  great  Southern  Lake.  According  to 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


149 


1795.] 

the  reports  published,  the  value  of  goods  entered  at  the 
Custom  House  for  exportation  from  1st  Oct.  1 790  to  ist 
Oct.  1791,  was  $1,690,930;  to  1792,  $1,782,861,  to 
1793,  $2,092,660;  to  1794,  $3,456,42 1 ; to  1795, 
$4,421,924,  together,  $13,444,796,  and  the  exports  from 
Maryland  $20  026,126;  so  that  this  town  already  ex- 
ported two  thirds  of  the  whole  amount  exported  by  the 
State. 

The  receipts  into  the  treasury  of  the  U.  States  for  the 
space  of  five  years,  amounted  to  $2,235,914,  of  which 
however,  a deduction  is  to  be  made  for  drawbacks  paid 
after  the  monies  were  remitted  from  Baltimore ; and  as 
to  the  reports  of  exports,  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  no 
certain  rule  is  enforced  to  ascertain  the  value,  and  that, 
depending  on  the  discretion  of  the  shipper,  it  is  proba- 
ble that  the  quantities  and  value  of  the  shipments  exceed 
the  entries  for  exportation. 

At  this  period  Mr.  Josias  Pennington,  who  had 
married  a daughter  of  Mr.  Hanson,  the  original  owner 
and  Mr.  John  Taggert,  obtained  the  3d  and  4th  mills 
on  Jones’  Falls;  and,  at  great  expense  in  cutting  a race 
through  a spur  of  the  granite  ridge,  which  there  ap- 
proaches the  towrn,  united  the  water  powrer  of  both,  for 
a new  and  extensive  mill,  which  is  now  owned  by 
Messrs.  Keller  and  Foreman,  within  a mile  of  the  navi- 
gation. Not  long  after,  the  Messrs.  Ellicotts,  taking 
up  the  water  from  Gwinn’s  Falls  a mile  and  a quarter 
above,  convey  it  along  the  east  bank,  and  obtain  an 
elevation  sufficient  for  three  mills  of  above  twenty  feet 
fall  each,  in  succession,  which  they  build  at  the  place 
where  the  great  western  road  by  Frederick  Town, 


150 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1795 


passes  the  stream,  and  within  three  miles  of  the  wharves 
in  the  town.  In  consequence  of  these  improvements, 
and  others  of  the  kind  made  in  the  neighborhood  by 
Messrs.  Tyson,  Hollingsworth,  &c.  the  manufacture  of 
flour  was  greatly  increased  and  little  or  no  wheat  was 
exported  afterwards ; and  it  may  now  be  remarked,  that 
the  introduction  of  other  mechanical  improvements, 
which  employ  an  increased  population,  that  are  con- 
sumers, and  not  growers  of  wheat  or  manufacturers  of 
flour,  has  produced  a great  disparity  between  the  quan- 
tities of  this  article  inspected  and  that  exported,  yield- 
ing a certain  market  for  a great  proportion  of  the  pro- 
duct of  agriculturists  and  millers  labour,  independent 
of  commerce  or  the  demand  abroad. 

The  rule  adopted  for  the  General  Assessment  of  pro- 
perty being  less  than  a fourth  of  the  current  value,  had 
hitherto  prevented  the  difficulties  which  now  occurred 
between  landlords  and  tenants  in  relation  to  the  pro- 
portion of  taxes  on  grounds  and  improvements,  sepa- 
rately assessed.  It  was  found  that  the  taxes  upon  the 
ground,  even  at  the  low  valuation  of  property,  absolv- 
ed the  rent  and  sometimes  exceeded  it,  where  the  pro- 
perty had  been  leased  at  an  early  day,  a id  where  in 
fact  it  had  become  the  most  valuable.  To  avoid  this 
for  the  future,  Judge  Chase,  and  other  proprietors  of 
lots,  commenced  the  introduction  into  their  leases  of  a 
stipulation  that  the  rent  reserved,  whatever  it  might  be, 
should  be  clear  and  free  of  all  public  dues,  and  the  law 
expressly  provides  for  the  performance  of  the  contract 
in  these  cases,  but  is  silent  as  to  the  others.  To  do 
justice  in  the  former  cases  it  seems  to  be  necessary  that 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


151 


1795.] 

the  landlords  interest  in  the  ground,  as  far  as  concerns 
the  payment  of  taxes,  should  be  determined  by  the 
amount  of  his  rent,  estimating  the  capital  upon  which  he 
shall  pay,  at  the  legal  rate  of  interest,  reducing  that 
capital  again  by  the  difference  between  the  current  and 
the  assessed  value  of  the  improvements  and  other  pro- 
perty; so  long  as  such  difference  is  suffered  to  exist, 
only;  and  that  the  lessee  or  tenant,  who  alone  is  bene** 
fitted  or  affected  by  the  rise  or  fall  of  the  whole  premis- 
es, should  pay  all  the  surplus  of  the  tax,  or  so  much 
less,  when  so  ascertained,  be  the  same  more  or  less. 

Inequalities  in  the  assessments  wTill  not  be  so  appar- 
ent, whilst  there  is  less  value  assessed,  and  injustice  is 
often  suffered  even  by  many  who  conceive  themselves 
favoured.  But,  what  is  of  more  importance  perhaps, 
the  want  of  means  to  enforce  the  payment  of  taxes  upon 
the  unimproved  property  of  absentees  or  minors,  of 
which  generous  minds  refuse  to  become  the  purchasers, 
and  the  taxes  upon  property  of  so  little  value  to  offer 
no  compensation  for  the  expense  of  collection,  greatly 
enhances  the  amount  of  taxes  upon  those  who  can  and 
do  pay  all,  sooner  or  later.  The  lien  for  taxes  being 
permanent,  there  should  be  an  officer  designated  to  as- 
certain and  receive  them,  at  the  time  of  alienation  or 
any  other  time,  and  provision  made  for  disposing  of 
vacant  lands  and  lots  for  arrears  of  public  dues,  at  a 
certain  time,  and  with  certain  exceptions,  the  same  as 
if  they  had  never  been  surveyed  or  patented,  and  they 
actually  belonged  to  the  State,  the  county  or  the  city,  to 
whichever  the  arrears  are  due. 

The  Baltimore  and  Maryland  Insurance  companies 


1 52 


ANNALS  OP  BALTIMORE. 


[1795, 

are  formed  and  incorporated,  the  first  upon  a capital 
paid  in,  and  the  latter  upon  a tenth  part  and  the  sur- 
plus, in  negociable  notes  received  with  suitable  endor- 
sers, annually.  The  Chesapeake,  Union  and  Marine 
Insurance  Companies  are  incorporated  in  1804,  the  two 
last  of  which  have  been  discontinued,  and  in  1819, 
the  Patapsco  and  Universal  Companies,  which  are  still 
in  operation. 

On  the  4th  of  December  1795,  Cokeburry  College 
erected  at  Abington  in  Harford  county  by  the  Metho- 
dist Society  in  1785,  was  burned,  by  design  as  was 
supposed,  and  the  next  year,  that  is  1796,  the  same 
society  purchased  a spacious  building  erected  by  the 
proprietor  of  the  Fountain  Inn  for  an  assembly  or  ball 
room,  contiguous  to  the  Light-street  Church,  and  es- 
tablished an  academy  and  free  school  there.  During 
divine  service  on  the  4th  of  December  of  the  same  year, 
the  church  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire,  and  both  build- 
ings were  unfortunately  consumed.  The  concurrence 
of  these  destructive  fires  on  the  same  day  of  the  year 
and  within  so  short  a period,  not  only  reduced  the  means 
of  the  society,  but  discouraged  them  from  any  similar 
undertaking  of  the  kind  for  many  years.  Perhaps  it 
was  a providential  dispensation  to  instruct  them  that 
their  well  intended  munificence  might  be  better  applied. 
It  may  indeed  be  said,  that  some  of  the  charities  destin- 
ed to  create  artificial  wants  and  refinements  in  a num- 
ber of  fellow  beings  who  might  be  otherwise  exempt 
from  them,  would  be  employed  in  a way  more  consist- 
ant  with  real  benevolence,  if  appropriated  to  assuage 
the  tortured  minds  of  those  who  were  involuntarily 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


153 


1795.] 

placed  in  situations  more  exposed.  By  extending  to 
all,  the  means  of  polished  life  and  bringing  together 
youth  of  different  circumstances,  the  one  inhales  the 
pride  of  command  which  defies  parental  authority,  and 
the  other  a spirit  of  envy,  begetting  desires  which  can- 
not  be  gratified,  and  destroying  that  filial  attachment  in 
which  the  parent  should  find  a reward,  while  society, 
which  furnishes  no  adequate  substitute  for  either,  be- 
comes a prey  to  the  want  of  both.  Children  of  fortune 
fallen  heirs  to  misfortune,  oftener  occupy  the  cells  of 
the  Hospital,  while  they  who  would  not  experience  a 
reverse  of  fortune,  without  the  interference  of  others 
zeal  are  forced  to  the  work  house  of  ignominy  from 
the  many  necessary  and  reputable  occupations  of 
laborious  industry.  Alas!  how  many  there  are  of  both 
descriptions,  especially  in  commercial  societies,  who, 
coming  short  of  real  wisdom,  envy  the  child  of  nature, 
and  by  the  inebriating  draft,  or  other  means,  premature- 
ly cut  the  thread  of  life  and  hasten  to  an  awful  eterni- 
ty. 

There  are  however,  institutions  for  instruction  of 
young  and  old  whose  utility  is  no  way  equivocal, 
which  are  an  accumulation  of  means  in  the  hands  of 
those  destined  to  be  the  benefactors  of  society,  and  do 
not  abruptly  interfere  with  its  organization. — Amongst 
such  a circulating  library  claims  a conspicuous  rank; 
and  in  the  same  year. 

The  Right  Revd.  Bishop  Carroll,  the  Re  yd.  Doctor’s 
Patrick  Allison  and  Joseph  G.,  J.  Bend,  Doctor  George 
Brown,  Messrs.  Richard  Caton,  Thomas  Poultney, 
James  Carroll,  George  W.  Field,  Robert  Gilmor,  >iich* 

w *•  ' 29 


154 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1795.  ' 

olas  Brice,  David  Harris  and  others,  form  a Library  com- 
pany, which  was  incorporated  the  following  year,  the 
above  named  gentlemen  being  elected  officers  and  man- 
agers. ** 

John  B.  Bernabeu,  Esq.  now  Chevalier  De  Berna- 
beu,  was  appointed  his  Catholic  Majesty’s  Consul  for 
Maryland,  and  came  here  to  reside.  David  M’Mechan, 
Esq.  is  again  elected  in  the  place  of  Mr.  M’Kim,  one  of 
the  delegates  to  the  General  Assembly. 

Early  in  the  year  1796  Samuel  Chase,  Esq.  Chief 
Justice  of  the  general  court,  was  appointed  one  of  the 
associate  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  and  James  M’Henry,  Esq.  Secretary  of  the  war 
department.  Judge  Seney  resigned,  and  Henry  Ridge- 
ley,  Esq.  is  appointed  Chief  Justice -of  the  judicial  dis- 
trict. Doctor  Andrew  Weisenthal  is  appointed  one  of 
the  Judges  of  the  Orphans  Court.  The  jurisdiction  of 
single  justices  out  of  Court,  in  matters  of  debt,  w hich 
had  been  extended  from  15  to  Z10,  in  1791,  w as  still 
without  fees  or  perquisites ; they  then  ceased  to  hold 
courts,  and  received  no  per  diem  of  course;  their  fees 
wrere  regulated  at  this  time,  1796,  as  they  now  contin- 
ue: Though  they  were  at  all  times  lower  than  any  where 
else,  and  no  check  to  vexatious  litigation,  the  jurisdic- 
tion w as  increased  to  $50  in  1800,  without  increase  of 
fees;  but,  high  or  low,  justice  and  peace  would  be  promo- 
ted if  the  fees  were  paid  into  the  City  Treasury  as  a 
fund  for  Justices  salaries. 

The  house  of  General  Smith  on  the  North  Side  of 
Water  Street,  w as  erected  on  a plan  furnished  by  him- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


1796.] 


L55 


self,  and  executed  by  Messrs.  John  Scroggs,  Robert 
Steuart  and  James  Mosher,  builders. 

The  charitable  Marine  Society  was  formed  and  in- 
corporated in  the  names  of  Thomas  Elliot,  David 
Porter,  Thomas  Cole,  Daniel  Howland  and  others, 
masters  of  vessels,  or  their  friends. 

The  second  general  conference  of  the  methodists 
was  held  this  year,  and  repeated  every  fourth  year  sue- 
cessively  thereafter. 

The  legislature  authorise  the  filling  up  and  wharfing 
Light  street,  from  Pratt  street  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  harbour,  including  all  the  space  eastward  of  Charles 
street.  That  part  of  the  city  would  have  been  benefit- 
ted,  had  the  front  of  the  streets  leading  from  the  w est, 
been  converted  to  public  docks,  to  secure  a greater  ex- 
tent of  landing,  especially  as  the  canal  to  the  middle 
branch,  for  which  new  commissioners  were  nowr  ap- 
pointed, was  not  opened. 

At  length,  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  1 796,  alawr  is 
passed  to  constitute  the  Towm  a City,  and  incorporate 
the  inhabitants  by  the  name  of  “the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore;”  and  that  the  best  means  were 
sought  by  our  Legislators,  to  restrain  the  errors  and 
promote  the  happiness  of  a numerous  and  mixed  society, 
is  proved  by  the  enlightened  view’s  which  they  have’ 
concisely  expressed  in  the  following  preamble:  “Where- 
as it  is  found  by  experience,  that  the  good  order , health 
and  safety  of  large  Towns  and  Cities,  cannot  be  p reset'* 
ved,  nor  the  evils  and  accidents  to  w hich  they  are  sub- 
ject, avoided  or  remedied,  w ithout  an  internal  power 
COMPETENT  TO  ESTABLISH  A POLICE  AND  REFUTATIONS, 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


156 


[1796 


fitted  to  their  particular  circumstances,  wants  and  exi- 
gences.” 

The  act  of  incorporation,  which  of  course  abolished 
the  port  wardens  and  town  and  special  commissioners 
and  transferred  their  powers  and  some  additional  au- 
thority, to  a chief  executive  officer,  by  the  usual  title  of 
Mayor,  having  a qualified  negative  on  the  city  laws,  and 
a legislative  body  or  council  of  two  branches;  the  first 
of  two  members  for  each  of  eight  wards,  into  which 
the  city  was  divided,  pursuant  to  the  act,  and  beginning 
at  the  west,  elected  directly  by  the  voters  of  the  ward 
annually,  and  the  second  branch  of  one  member  for 
each  ward  and  the  Mayor,  elected  by  electors  chosen 
every  second  year,  two  for  each  ward  by  the  voters 
thereof.  A certain  residence  and  a property  qualifica- 
tion were  required  in  all,  and  the  Mayor  wTas  ex-officio , 
a justice  of  the  peace  in  all  matters,  except  the  recovery 
of  small  debts  and  wras  bound  to  enforce  the  acts  of  the 
city  legislature,  and  upon  nominations  by  the  second 
branch,  appointing  inspectors  and  other  city  officers, 
but  no  bailiffs  or  means  to  pay  them. 

The  surplus  received  from  certain  licenses  and  fines 
granted  to  the  Washington  College  in  1784,  was  con- 
tinued to  the  city,  wfith  the  duties  on  tonnage  and  auc- 
tions, and  power  to  levy  a tax  upon  assessed  property, 
not  exceeding  fifteen  shillings  in  the  100  pounds,  or 
seventy  five  cents  per  100  dollars  It  required  no  little 
exertion  of  the  talents  and  influence  of  Messrs.  McMe- 
chen,  McHenry,  Robert  Smith  and  Winchester,  the 
senators  and  delegates  at  the  time,  to  reconcile  the  citi- 
zens to  the  charter,  such  as  it  was,  especially  those  of 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


157 


1796.] 

the  Point  or  Deptford  Hundred,  who  were  conciliated 
by  an  exception  from  any  tax  towards  deepening  the 
upper  harbour  or  basin. 

Still  the  act  was  introduced  as  an  experiment  for  a 
year  only,  and  another  was  passed  the  ensuing  session  to 
give  it  perpetual  duration,  with  an  enumeration  of  some 
of  the  principal  powers. 

Gabriel  Duvall,  Esq.  of  Annapolis,  and  Doctor  John 
Archer,  of  Harford,  are  chosen  electors  of  President  and 
Yice  President  of  the  United  States.  James  Winches- 
ter, Esq.  was  chosen  an  elector  of  the  Senate  for  the 
City,  and  Charles  Ridgely  of  Hampton,  and  Charles 
Ridgely  of  W.  Esqs.  for  the  County.  Col.  Howard, 
and  Charles  Ridgely,  of  Hampton,  Esq.  were  elected 
members  of  the  Senate  of  the  State,  but  the  Colonel  ap- 
pointed a member  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
is  succeeded  by  David  M’Mechen,  Esq.  and  Robert 
Smith  Esq.  was  elected  to  the  house  of  delegates  in  the 
place  of  Mr.  M’Mechen. 

The  elections  for  city  officers  under  the  charter 
took  place  early  in  1797,  and  resulted  as  follows: 

James  Calhoun,  Esq.  Mayor. 

Members  of  the  First  Branch  of  the  City  Council. 

First  Ward. — James  Carey,  Ephraim  Robinson — 
Second  Ward,  Samuel  Owings,  Doctor  George  Bu- 
chanan— Third  Ward,  Zeb  Hollingsworth,  James  Mc- 
Cannon — Fourth  Ward,  Hercules  Courtenay,  David 
McMechen — Fifth  Ward,  Thomas  Hollingsworth,  Adam 
Fonerden — Sixth  Ward,  Baltzer  Schaeffer,  Peter  Frick 
— Seventh  Ward — James  Edwards,  Frederick  Schaef- 


158 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1797. 

fer — Eighth  Ward,  Joseph  Biays,  William  Trimble. — 
Her.  Courtenay,  Esq.  was  chosen  President  of  this 
branch. 

Members  of  the  Second  Branch: 

First  Ward — William  Goodwin — Second  Ward, 
Colonel  Nicholas  Rogers — Third  Ward,  John  Merry- 
man — Fourth  Ward,  Henry  Nicolls — Fifth  Ward,  Ro- 
bert Gilmor — Sixth  W ard,  Richard  Lawson — Seventh 
Ward,  Edward  Johnson — Eighth  Ward,  Job  Smith, 
Esqs.  who  chose  John  Merryman,  Esq.  their  Presi- 
dent. 

William  Gibson,  Esq.  clerk  of  the  county,  was  ap- 
pointed Treasurer;  Richard  H.  Moale,  Esq.  Register* 
and  John  Hopkins,  Esq.  Collector,  but  the  duties  of 
Treasurer  and  Register  were  soon  after  united;  Mr. 
Moale,  who  had  been  clerk  to  the  Commissioners,  filling 
both  offices. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Corporation  was  an  ex- 
pression of  approbation,  gratitude  and  good  wishes  to- 
wards General  Washington,  passing  through  the  city 
homeward  after  the  expiration  of  the  second  period  of 
his  presidential  term,  in  an  address  dated  the  14th 
March  of  which  the  following  is  a copy. 

To  George  Washington,  Esq. — Sir,  to  partake  of  the 
prosperity  arising  from  your  unwearied  attention  to  the 
welfare  of  your  country — to  admire  that  firmness  which 
has  never  been  disconcerted  in  the  greatest  difficul- 
ties, and  which  has  acquired  vigor  in  proportion  to 
the  exigency — to  feel  that  honorable  ascendency  you 
have  obtained  in  the  well  founded  opinion  of  your  fel- 
low citizens,  by  a wise  administration,  and  the  exercise 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


159 


1797.] 

of  the  virtues  of  a private  life,  and  to  suppress  our  ad- 
miration and  acknowledgement  would  be  wanting  to  our 
own  individual  sensation,  and  the  just  expectation  of 
those  we  represent. 

Permit,  therefore,  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore,  amongst  the  first  exercises  of  their  corporate 
capacity,  to  gratify  themselves  and  their  constituents, 
in  the  sincere  expressions  of  regret  for  your  retirement ; 
their  lively  gratitude  for  your  public  services ; their  af- 
fectionate attachment  to  your  private  character;  their 
heartfelt  farewell  to  your  person  and  family ; and  their 
unceasing  solicitude  for  your  temporal  and  eternal  hap- 
piness. In  behalf  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of 
Baltimore,  JAMES  CALHOUN , Mayor. 

To  which  was  returned  the  following  reply. 

To  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore. — 
Gentlemen,  I receive  with  grateful  sensibility  the  hon- 
our of  your  address. 

To  meet  the  plaudits  of  my  fellow  citizens  for  the 
part  I have  acted  in  public  life,  is  the  highest  reward 
next  to  the  consciousness  of  having  done  my  duty  to  the 
utmost  of  my  abilities,  of  which  my  mind  is  susceptible 
— and  I pray  you  to  accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  the 
evidence  you  have  now  given  me,  of  your  approbation 
of  my  past  services — for  those  regrets  which  you  have 
expressed  on  the  occasion  of  my  retirement  to  private 
life,  and  for  the  affectionate  attachment  you  have  decla- 
red for  my  person.  Let  me  reciprocate  most  cordially, 
all  the  good  wishes  you  have  been  pleased  to  extend  to 
me  and  my  family,  for  our  temporal  and  eternal  happi- 
new.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 


160 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1797. 

For  some  time  the  French  privateers  had  annoyed  the 
American  trade  in  the  West  Indies  and  now  our  vessels 
became  a prey  even  in  their  own  ports.  Among  others 
the  Hope,  captain  Rodgers,  and  Plato,  Lawrenson, 
were  condemned  as  lawful  prizes. 

The  frigate  Constellation  of  36  guns  is  built  at  Har- 
ris’s Creek,  and  Thomas  Truxton,  Esq.  appointed  com- 
mander. Captain  David  Porter,  Senior,  establishes  a 
signal  house  on  Federal  Hill,  opposite  but  near  to  and 
in  sight  of  the  town,  by  which  the  approach  of  public 
and  private  vessels  to  the  Bodkin  and  North  Point  is 
immediately  known. 

A congregation  of  Baptists  attached  to  the  Rever- 
end John  Healy,  erect  a small  church  on  the  Point, 
which  was  succeeded  by  the  one  in  Fleet  street,  m 
1811,  and  all  that  society  being  previously  united,  is 
called  the  Second  Baptist  Church.  The  society  in  and 
near  Baltimore  form  an  association,  called  “The  Balti- 
more Association,”  and  meet  here  occasionally,  and 
soon  after,  that  is  1798,  Trustees  of  the  First  Church 
are  incorporated.  It  was  also  in  1797,  a subscription 
was  got  up  for  a Hall  for  dancing,  and  the  building  wag 
erected  in  Holliday  street,  from  a design  by  Colonel  N. 
Rogers,  Messrs.  Robert  C.  Long,  James  Donaldson 
Hessington  and  Lauder,  builders,  which  was  called  the 
Assembly  Room. 

Mr.  George  Keating  published  a small  plan  of  the 
city,  and  two  years  after  another  was  published  by  Mr. 
Charles  Yarle,  which  included  some  of  the  environs? 
with  views  of  the  above  building,  and  Messrs.  Duga* 
and  McElderry’s  improvements,  market  space. 


1797.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  1G1 

The  criminal  business  of  the  city  was  separated  from 
that  of  the  county,  but  the  justices  of  the  county  court 
remained  justices  of  both,  as  before. 

Colonel  Howard  having  completed  the  Senatorial 
term  is  re-appointed  Senator  of  the  United  States  for  the 
ensuing  six  years.  Adam  Fonerden,  Esq.  is  elected  a 
delegate  to  the  assembly  in  the  place  of  Mr.  McMechen, 
and  Corns.  H.  Gist,  Esq.  is  elected  sheriff. 

On  the  19th  March,  1797,  died  in  this  city  at  an  ad- 
vanced age,  Daniel  Dulany,  Esq.  Barrister,  formerly 
secretary  of  the  province  and  member  of  council,  and  of 
the  upper  house  under  the  proprietary  government;  and 
on  the  2d  September,  1792,  at  Charleston,  S.  C.  where 
he  had  closed  his  military  career,  married  his  second 
wife  and  settled,  General  Mordecai  Gist,  formerly  of 
this  place,  and  first  captain  of  the  Independent  compa- 
ny. 

The  French  directory  refused  to  treat  with,  or  re- 
ceive the  ambassadors  of  peace,  Messrs.  Pinkney,  Mar- 
shall and  Gerey;  the  privateers  continuing  their  depre- 
dations Upon  our  commerce,  and  the  government  sub- 
jecting individual  citizens  to  great  indignities;  congress 
having  long  since  liquidated  and  paid  the  former  loans 
made  by  France,  revoke  the  existing  treaties  with  that 
nation  and  prepare  for  defence.  In  July,  congress  voted 
an  addition  to  the  army  and  naval  forces,  and  author- 
ised the  seizure  of  French  vessels  which  were  armed, 
manifesting  a philanthropic  desire  to  spare  private  pro- 
perty by  sea  as  wTell  as  by  land.  In  an  address  to  Gen, 

21 


162  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  1798. 

Smith,  who  had  then  just  succeeded  in  his  re-election  to 
congress,  a number  of  the  citizens,  representing  a great 
majority  of  the  voters  of  the  town,  pronounce  their  ap- 
probation of  the  steps  taken  by  government  towards  the 
directory.  On  the  7th  November,  Gen.  Washington 
who  had  accepted  the  command  of  the  army  again,  and 
designated  Col.  Howard  to  be  one  of  the  brigadier  gene- 
rals, if  necessary,  arrived  here  and  reviewed  general 
Swann’s  brigade.  On  this  last  visit  of  the  Beloved 
Chief  and  Brother,  the  R.  W.  Mr.  William  Belton. 
Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Maryland,  pre- 
sented a copy  of  their  constitution  then  just  revised, 
and  an  address,  to  which  the  General  returned  an  an- 
swer highly  commendatory  of  the  benevolent  purposes 
of  the  institution. 

Two  new  troops  of  volunteer  cavalry  were  raised, 
one  of  Point  gentlemen,  commanded  by  Capt.  James 
Biays,  and  one  in  town  by  Capt.  Bentalou. 

The  ships  Baltimore  and  Montezuema,  merchant 
vessels  of  this  port,  wrere  fitted  out  with  twenty  guns 
each,  the  first  commanded  by  Capt.  Isaac  Philips  and 
the  last  by  Capt.  Alexander  Murray.  On  the  16th 
November,  the  Baltimore  having  convoyed  a number  of 
American  vessels  near  the  Havana,  was  met  by  a Bri- 
tish squadron  under  admiral  Loring,  who  invited  Capt. 
Philips  on  board  his  ship,  and,  in  his  absence,  had  above 
fifty  men  brought  away  from  the  Baltimore,  as  British 
seamen,  which  captain  Philips  resented  strenuously  and 
offered  up  his  ship.  Upon  this  Loring  returned  all  the 
men  but  five,  and  captain  Philips  being  without  a com 
mission  for  his  ship,  and  thinking  the  government  would 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


163 


[1798. 

find  some  better  means  of  redress,  hoisted  his  flag  and 
proceeded,  but  was  dismissed  the  service  on  his  return 
without  a trial,  by  an  order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Na- 
vy. John  Rodgers  and  Andrew  Sterett,  appointed 
Lieutenants  of  the  Navy  and  David  Porter  Jr.  Midship- 
man, were  on  board  the  Constellation  and  contributed 
by  their  gallant  behaviour,  to  the  capture  of  the  Insur- 
gents French  frigate,  9th  February,  1799.  Besides  the 
above  Baltimore  gentlemen,  there  also  entered  the  navy 
about  this  period,  Messrs.  John  Ballard,  William  Peter- 
kin,  Charles  Ridgely,  John  and  Joseph  Nicholson  and 
George  Levely;  and  another  ship  was  fitted  out  called 
the  Patapsco,  to  be  commanded  by  Captain  Geddes. 

Notwithstanding  the  interruptions  of  the  American 
trade  by  the  belligerents,  the  staple  of  flour  which  al 
ready  got  up  to  eight  dollars,  continued  rising  through- 
out the  war,  until  1799,  the  price  here  vras  above  ten 
dollars,  and  the  amount  of  the  exports  wThich  was  high 
er  that  year  than  any  other,  before  or  since,  was  neces- 
sarily affected  by  these  high  prices,  but  the  country  in 
creased  rapidly  in  wealth  as  well  as  population,  as  was 
to  be  expected  in  such  a state  of  things  as  then  existed 
in  the  commercial  world. 

To  relieve  the  county  courts  from  duties  not  judicia- 
ry, levy  courts  are  organised  by  law  in  1798  and  eleven 
justices  appointed  for  this  city  and  county,  take  charge 
of  the  property  and  finances.  The  tobacco  inspectors 
formerly  nominated  by  the  vestries,  and  latterly  by  the 
the  courts  of  justice,  arc  now  by  this  court  as  are  the 
county  constables  and  overseers  of  the  roads. 

The  legislature  also  pass  an  act  to  present  abuses  in 


164 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1798 

the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery,  the  want  of  which 
had  been  announced  ten  years  l efore,  incorporating  the 
faculty,  prohibiting  any  from  commencing  practice  there- 
after without  a license  from  a board  of  examiners.  This 
restriction  was  so  far  modified  in  1816,  as  to  permit  the 
graduates  of  reputed  seminaries  or  colleges  to  practice 
without  other  license. 

The  form  and  dimensions  of  brick  for  building,  or 
sale,  were  established,  and  in  1807,  wooded  buildings 
were  prohibited  from  being  erected  in  the  central  and 
improved  parts  of  the  city,  by  ordinance,  a prohibition 
which  has  been  extended  since. 

The  property  of  the  city  subject  to  taxes,  wras  valued 
at  699,519/.  9s.  2d.  pursuant  to  a general  assess- 
ment law  and  five  commissioners  for  the  city  and  five 
for  the  county  appointed. 

At  a town  meeting  on  the  7th  of  September,  it  was 
resolved,  that  a subscription  should  be  opened  for  mo- 
ney to  aid  the  distressed  inhabitants  of  Philadelphia, 
then  afflicted  by  the  yellow  fever,  and  on  the  15th,  the 
Mayor  suspended  the  communication  between  the  citi- 
zens. W in.  Wilson  and  Archibald  Buchanan,  Esqs. 
are  elected  delegates. 

On  the  filth  of  July,  1798,  John  Moale  Fso.  many 
years  presiding  justice  of  the  county  court  and  mem- 
ber of  the  convention  in  1774  for  this  county,  departed 
this  life  at  an  advanced  age;  on  the  eleventh  of  Sep- 
tember, also  at  an  advancod  age,  Alexander  Lawson 
Esq.  formerly  clerk  of  Baltimore  county  court;  and 
on  the  twentieth  of  October,  at  his  then  residence  in 
Queen  Annes  county,  Joshua  Seney  Esq.  late  chief 


1798.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  165 

justice  of  this  district  and  formerly  member  of  con 
gress. 

The  Rev.  William  Du  Bourg,  now  bishop  of  the 
catholic  church  in  Louisiana,  with  other  clergymen  of 
that  society,  then  lately  arrived  from  France,  establish 
an  academy  near  the  intersection  of  Franklin  and 
Greene  streets  in  1791,  to  which  considerable  additions 
were  made  in  1804,  aided  by  a lottery,  with  permission 
of  the  legislature  to  grant  diplomas  in  any  of  the  facul 
ties,  and  incorporated,  Mr.  Du  Bourg  being  first  Presi- 
dent. After  which  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Nagot,  Tessier 
and  other  clergymen,  who  had  established  a theological 
seminary  there,  added  to  this  establishment  a hand- 
some church,  the  style  of  which  is  gothic,  from  a design 
furnished  by  Max.  Godfroy,  Esq. 

The  Rev.  Doctor  Bend  and  others  form  the  society, 
for  the  education  of  poor  female  children,  which  is 
incorporated  by  the  name  of  the  Benevolent  society, 
and  a house  built  for  their  reception  on  Price  street, 
near  the  western  limits  of  the  city.  The  female  hu- 
mane association  charity  school  is  incorporated  in  1801, 
which  was  superseded  by  the  Orphaline  Charity 
School  in  1807. 

The  Methodist  society  established  a free  school  for 
male  children,  which  was  incorporated  in  1808,  soon 
after  which,  the  trustees  purchased  and  improved  the 
lot  on  Courtland  street,  for  its  use. 

Capt.  J.  Yellot  who  died  in  1805,  bequeathed  the  in- 
terest of  $10,000  for  the  free  school  of  St.  Peter’s  Con- 
gregation, as  did  Mr.  J.  Corrie,  merchant,  a large  sum 


166 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1799 

in  1806,  which  last  however,  fell  to  the  heir  at  law  by  a 
defect  of  the  will,  and  Mr.  Janies  Dali,  merchant,  who 
died  in  1 808,  bequeathed  $5000  towards  the  education 
of  poor  boys. 

Agreeably  to  the  powrers  of  the  corporation,  an  addi- 
tion was  made  to  the  city,  of  a small  parcel  of  ground 
situated  North  of  Saratoga  street  in  1799,  and  the 
bounds  of  Harford  street  and  Canal  were  fixed,  together 
with  the  channel  of  the  basin. 

On  the  28th  May  1799,  a fire  broke  out  on  the  West 
side  of  South  street,  and  consumed  a number  of  ware 
houses  and  much  valuable  property,  between  that  street 
and  Bowley’s  wrharf. 

In  this  same  year  the  Revd.  John  Hargrove,  who  had 
espoused  the  doctrines  of  Baron  Swedenbourg,  and  oth- 
ers of  that  faith,  erect  the  New  Jerusalem  Temple  at 
the  corner  of  Baltimore  and  Exeter  streets,  which  was 
dedicated  the  ensuing  year. 

Heretofore  the  Citizens  had  witnessed  much  confu- 
sion and  turbulence,  by  the  multitudes  of  people  assem- 
bled at  elections  for  the  Town  and  County,  the  legisla- 
ture therefore  change  the  constitution  in  this  respect,  by 
dividing  both  into  districts,  the  wards  of  the  city  serving 
for  districts  within  the  same ; two  years  after,  the  man 
ner  of  voting  was  limited  to  ballots,  instead  of  voice,  and 
these  seasons  ceased  to  be  riotous  as  they  had  been. 

At  the  session  of  1799  a new  Court  of  Oyer  and 
Terminer  is  organized  for  Baltimore  City  and  County, 
and  Walter  Dorsey,  Esq.  appointed  Chief  Justice: 
George  G.  Presbury  and  Job  l$mith,  Esqrs.  Associate 
Justices.  In  1805,  William  S.  Summers,  Esq.  is  ap~ 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE* 


167 


1799.] 

pointed  Clerk  of  this  Court;  who,  dying  in  1807,  is  suc- 
ceeded by  Thomas  Harwood.  Esq.  In  1808,  Judge 
Dorsey  resigns  and  is  succeeded  by  John  Scott,  Esq. 
who,  dying  in  1813,  is  succeeded  by  Luther  Martin, Esq. 
In  the  same  year,  1799,  James  Winchester,  Esq.  was 
appointed  Judge  of  the  District  Court,  in  the  place  of 
Mr.  Paca  deceased.  . 

The  Insurgente  French  Frigate  is  captured  by  Capt. 
Truxton,  brought  here  and  fitted  out,  but  was,  with  Capt. 
Patrick  Fletcher  and  all  the  crew,  lost  at  sea  the  en- 
suing winter. 

On  the  petition  of  the  proprietors,  Pratt  street  from 
Franklin  Lane,  was  directed  to  be  opened  to  the  Falls, 
and  it  was  then  opened  from  Frederick  street,  and  a 
bridge  erected  by  Ordinance  of  the  Corporation,  to  con- 
nect that  street  with  the  one  called  Queen  street* 

Pratt  street  had  been  opened  wrestwardly  as  early  as 
1795,  and  in  1811,  a law  was  passed  for  extending  it 
eastwardly  across  Cheapside,  Hollingsworth,  and  Elli- 
cott’s  docks,  but  this  was  not  effected  until  another  was 
passed  in  1816,  including  that  part  of  the  new  street 
only,  which  runs  from  Light  street  to  Pranklin  lane; 
when  another  law  passed  to  open  and  extend  North 
lane  which  was  called  Belvidere,  now  North  street;  and 
another,  to  extend  Lombard  street  eastwardly,  not  yet 
carried  into  effect 

At  the  Falls,  North  street  diverges  and  the  eastern 
section,  still  called  Belvidere  street,  is  connected  with 
the  York  Road  by  a wooden  bridge  of  one  arch,  170 
eet  span,  built  by  Mr.  L.  Werowag,  at  the  expense  of 
the  city.  By  extending  and  uniting  so  many  streets 


168 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1799. 

across  an  unimproved  part  of  the  town  which  lay  be- 
tween the  improved  parts  each  side  of  the  Falls,  two 
towns  of  the  same  name,  so  long  separated  in  fact,  an 
important  step  was  taken  to  render  them  mutually  ben- 
eficial to  each  other,  and  promote  the  ultimate  prosperity 
of  both. 

Pursuant  to  an  act  of #1 820,  Pratt  street  wa«  continu- 
ed from  Gay  street,  eastwardly,  to  Frederick  street,  and 
an  act  is  passed  to  open  Forest,  mow  Hillen  street, 
southwardly,  from  High  street  to  the  Falls,  not  yet 
effected. 

In  1807  an  act  was  passed  to  open  Centre  street, 
eastwardly  from  Howard  street  to  the  Falls,  and  a bridge 
was  built  there;  and  in  181 1 St.  Pauls,  now  Saratoga 
street,  was  extended  from  Charles  to  Fish  street,  unit- 
ing those  streets.  In  1809  Mr.  Christopher  Hughes 
obtains  a license  to  extend  his  grounds,  south  side 
of  the  Basin,  northwardly  to  Lee  street,  and  from  For- 
rest to  Johnson  street  eastwardly,  with  a reservation  of 
the  grounds  fronting  streets  for  public  use,  afterwards 
rescinded  in  whole  or  in  part.  In  1814,  the  corpora- 
tion purchased  the  water  rights,  and  soon  after  com- 
menced the  public  dock,  between  town  and  point,  di- 
recting the  course  of  the  Falls  into  that  dock,  and 
putting  a draw  bridge,  exclusive  of  platform,  60  feet 
long,  at  the  entrance  of  it,  which  is  210  feet  wide,  so 
that  a direct  communication  is  formed  from  Chase’s 
wharf  and  the  west  side  of  the  town,  to  the  west  end  of 
the  Point. 

The  port  wardens  had  determined  the  width  of  the 
Falls,  before  the  city  was  chartered,  at  60  feet  above 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


169 


1799.] 

Baltimore  street  bridge  and  80  feet  below  it,  and  now 
complete  the  survey  of  the  harbour,  which  the  corpora- 
tion confirm  in  1805  and  1807,  and  in  1815,  a resolution 
is  passed  to  sanction  the  deepening  of  the  bed  and 
walling  in  the  sides  of  the  Falls. 

It  was  in  1799,  Messrs.  John  Hollins  and  James  A. 
Buchanan,  erect  those  two  spacious  houses  on  the  west 
side  of  Washington  square,  Messrs.  James  Mosher  and 
Jacob  Small,  builders. 

Archibald  Buchanan  and  George  Johonnot,  Esqs. 
are  elected  to  represent  the  Town  in  the  House  of  Dele- 
gates. 

On  the  1 5th  of  December,  we  learned  the  decease  of 
General  Washington,  which  happened  the  day  before, 
and  on  the  first  January,  funeral  rites  were  celebrated. 
The  military  including  the  regulars  then  stationed  at 
Fort  McHenry,  and  the  citizens,  including  many  from 
the  country,  formed  a procession  to  the  head  of  Balti- 
more street,  where  an  appropriate  address  was  deliver- 
ed by  the  Rev.  Doctor  Allison.  From  thence  the  pro- 
cession returned  to  Christ  Church,  and  when  the  bier 
had  entered,  the  funeral  service  was  performed  by  the 
Rev.  Doctor  Bend,  before  an  immense  concourse  deep- 
ly affected  at  the  loss  which  they  had  sustained,  and 
anxious  to  manifest  the  grateful  sentiments  by  which 
they  were  animated  towards  the  memory  of  the  hero, 
who  had  so  often  testified  his  regard  for  them,  and  ren- 
dered the  most  important  services  to  their  country. 

On  the  15th  June  1800,  President  Adams  passed 

oo 


170 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE, 


[1800. 

through  town  from  the  seat  of  government,  then  lately 
moved  to  Washington,  and  the  corporation  presented 
him  an  address  of  congratulation. 

Charles  Burrell,  Esq.  is  appointed  Post  Master;  John 
E.  C.  Schultze,  Esq.  his  Prussian  Majesty’s  Consul, 
and  Peter  Colin,  Esq.  Consul  of  their  Majesties,  the 
kings  of  Denmark  and  Sweden. 

Doctor  John  B.  Davidge,  who  had  been  educated  in 
Europe,  and  some  time  settled  in  Baltimore,  commenc- 
ed a course  of  Lectures  on  the  principles  and  practice 
of  Midwifery,  to  which  the  next  season,  he  added  prac- 
tical surgery,  and  the  third  season  demonstrative  an- 
atomy. Those  lectures  were  deilvered  at  his  residence, 
and  though  they  were  never  attended  by  a dozen  stu- 
dents, the  Doctor  erected  an  Anatomical  Hall  near  the 
south  east  intersection  of  Liberty  and  Saratoga  streets, 
being  joined  by  Doctor  James  Cocke,  in  the  lectures  on 
Anatomy  and  Physiology,  and  by  Doctor  John  Shaw, 
who  delivered  lectures  on  Chemistry  at  his  own  dwel- 
ling. The  Anatomical  Lectures  had  scarcely  commenc- 
ed in  the  new  hall,  when  a clamour  was  raised  by  some 
Ignorant  neighbors;  it  was  demolished  by  the  populace, 
and  the  Doctor’s  preparations  destroyed;  upon  which, 
and  for  two  or  three  years  after,  the  Anatomical  and 
Surgical  Lectures  were  delivered  at  the  county  Alms 
House. 

The  Directory  having  failed  in  their  warfare  in  Eu- 
rope, as  they  had  in  their  diplomacy  with  us,  solicited  a 
renewal  of  the  Embassy  they  had  rejected  in  1798;  but 
losf  their  power,  as  well  as  the  form  of  government  un 
der  which  they  acted,  before  the  arrival  of  the  newr  Min- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE 


171 


1 800.] 

isters,  and  early  i a 1800,  General  N lpoleon  Bonaparte, 
lately  made  first  consul  of  toe  French  republic,  con- 
cludes a treaty  of  peace  with  this  country;  hostilities 
ceased  and  the  army  and  navy  was  reduced  here. 

Mr.  Marcus  McCausland  erects  the  Brewery  in  Hol- 
liday street,  and  a new  powder  magazine  is  erected  on 
the  south  side  of  the  rivtr,  by  the  Corporation. 

The  assembly  pass  a law  to  authorise  the  corporation 
to  introduce  water  into  the  city,  which  was  not  carried 
into  effect.  Messrs.  Robert  G.  Harper,  William  Cooke, 
John  McKim,  John  Donnell,  Robert  Gilmor,  and  others, 
form  a society  for  the  purpose,  in  1804,  and  purchasing 
the  mill  property  next  the  city,  convey  the  water  by 
canal  and  raise  it  by  water  power  to  elevated  reservoir? 
being  incorporated  in  1808.  In  the  same  year  Messrs. 
Joseph  and  James  Bia}~s  procure  a license  to  sink  pipes 
and  dispose  of  water  from  their  spring  on  the  point. — 

A number  of  Gentlemen  form  a society,  which  they  call 
“The  society  of  St.  George,”  to  relieve  emigrants  from 
England;  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Carroll,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Bend,  Mr.  James  Priestly,  Doctor  Crawford  and 
others  form  a society  by  the  name  of  “the  Maryland  - 
society  for  promoting  useful  knowledge,”  both  of 
which  societies  were  discontinued  after  a few  years. 

By  the  new  census  the  city,  without  the  precincts,  con- 
tain white  males,  11294;  females,  9606;  other  free 
persons,  2771  ; slaves,  2843;  prccintes  supposed,  5000; 
total,  31,514,  being  an  increase  of  18,011  persons  in 
the  last  ten  years.  Gabriel  Duvall,  Esq.  of  Annapolis, 
is  again  elected  an  elector  of  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent for  this  district,  and  Nicholas  R.  Moore  Esq.  of  the 


172 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE, 


[1800. 

county  for  the  sixth  district.  Owen  Dorsey,  Esq.  is 
appointed  a justice  of  the  orphans  court.  Robert 
Smith  and  James  H.  McCulloch  Esqrs.  are  elected  del- 
egates, and  James  Wilson,  Esq.  sheriff. 

Ixnoculation  with  vaccine  matter  having  been  dis- 
covered as  a preventative  for  small  pox,  by  Doctor  Jen- 
ner  five  years  before,  in  1801  Mr.  Wm.  Taylor,  mer- 
chant, received  from  his  brother  Mr.  John  Taylor,  then 
in  London,  a quantity  of  matter  for  propagation,  and 
being  delivered  through  Doctor  M.  Littlejohn  physician 
of  Mr.  Taylor’s,  to  Doctor  James  Smith,  he  introduces 
it  generally  and  succesfully.  Upon  the  application  of 
Doctor  Smith,  the  legislature  of  Maryland  becomes 
the  first  to  sanction  the  distribution;  and  in  1809,  he  is 
granted  a lottery  to  raise  a certain  compensation  for  the 
distribution  of  matter  gratuitously,  during  six  years; 
and  in  1810,  the  Rev.  Doctor  Bend,  Wm.  Gwynn,  Esq. 
Doctor  Smith  and  others,  form  a society  for  promoting 
vaccination  generally,  but  this  society  was  discontinued 
and  another  erected  in  1822,  of  which  Doctor  James 
Stewart  was  President.  There  was  at  each  of  these 
periods  cause  to  apprehend  the  propagation  of  the 
small  pox  among  the  citizens,  but  when  by  some  exer- 
tions, the  occasion  happily  disappeared,  the  society 
languished  and  disappeared  also.  Many  institutions  of 
this  beneficial  kind  have  failed  here,  not  perhaps,  from 
the  want  of  zeal  or  perseverance,  but  because  there  is 
less  real  or  permanent  want  of  them,  in  a country  which 
affords  so  many  inducements  to  self-government,  with 
the  means  to  procure  independence.  Unless  a certain 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


173 


1801.] 

fund  is  secured  at  once,  by  tax  or  by  donation,  for  fu- 
ture exigences ; it  seems  that  societies  of  voluntary  ben- 
evolence, which  are  a tax  upon  charity  itself,  exhausting 
the  means  of  those  wrho  are  disposed  to  do  most  good ; 
which  leave  the  unfeeling  miser  at  liberty  to  indulge 
his  selfish  and  unsocial  propensities,  are  often  apologies 
for  good  governments,  and  seldom  more  than  auxiliaries 
to  the  best;  will  be  of  precarious  duration,  until  such 
revolution  takes  place  in  the  number  and  circumstances 
of  individuals  and  state  of  society,  generally,  as  shall 
assimulate  us  to  the  Europeans,  which  happily,  must  be 
as  remote  as  it  is  to  be  depreciated. 

In  the  same  year  1801,  the  legislature  authorised  the 
building  of  a Lazaretto,  which  was  accordingly  put  up 
by  the  corporation,  on  the  point  opposite  fort  McHenry, 
which  has  lately  become  one  of  the  bounds  of  the  -city 
eastward. 

Messrs.  Emanuel  Kent,  Elisha  Tyson,  William 
Maccreery,  Richardson  Stewart,  and  others,  form  a soci- 
ety to  furnish  medicinal  relief  to  the  poor  gratuitously, 
which  in  1807  is  incorporated  by  the  name  of  the  “Bal- 
timore general  Dispensary,”  and  relief  for  drowning  per- 
sons provided,  there  having  been  since  the  foundation 
and  to  that  time,  6263  patients.  This  society,  for  a 
charitable  purpose  of  all  others  the  most  interesting 
perhaps,  has  by  great  exertions  outlived  most  of  its  co- 
temporaries, should  receive  a certain  support  from  go 
vernment,  or  be  made  an  appendage  of  the  alms-house 
permanently  provided  for,  as  are  other  public  charges 
and  this  itself  is  in  other  places. 


174 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1801 

Robert  Smith,  Esq.  is  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
navy,  the  duties  of  which  department  had  been  a short 
time  committed  to  general  Smith;  and  part  of  the  year 
1805,  the  former  held  the  oliice  of  attorney  general  of 
the  United  States,  but  returned  to  the  navy  department, 
and  was  appointed  secretary  of  state  in  1805,  having  in 
the  mean  time,  that  is  in  1806,  been  appointed  chancel- 
lor of  the  state,  and  chief  judge  of  this  district,  but  de- 
clined. 

John  Scott,  Esq.  who  had  lately  removed  from  Kent 
county,  and  Thomas  Dixon,  Esq.  are  elected  delegates 
to  the  assembly,  and  William  Smith,  James  H.  M’Cul- 
loch  and  J.  T.  Worthington,  Esqrs.  members  of  the 
senate,  of  which  James  H.  M,Cuiloch,  Esq.  had  been 
chosen  elector  for  the  city,  and  John  f . Worthington 
and. Tobias  E.  Stansbury, Esqrs.  electors  for  the  county. 

Mr.  Benjamin  IIenfrey,  an  Englishman,  had  lately 
discovered  and  attempted  to  bring  into  use,  a species  of 
coal  from  Gen.  Ridgely’s  lands,  about  six  miles  north 
east  ol  the  town,  but  did  not  succeed.  Mr.  Henfrey  was 
however,  more  successful  soon  after,  in  discover- 
ing a method  of  creating  light  by  gas  from  wood , exhib- 
ited experiments  here  and  actually  lighted  Richmond  in 
Virginia,  before  any  similar  discovery  w as  known. 

On  the  twenty  eighth  of  August  1802,  during  a 
storm  of  hail  the  flag  staff  at  fort  McHenry  on  whet- 
stone point,  and  a house  in  Bridge  street,  w ere  struck 
by  lightning. 

On  the  cessation  of  hostilities  in  Europe  after  the 
treaty  of  Amiens,  the  prices  of  produce  and  the  amount 


1802]  ANNALS  OP  BALTIMORE.  175 

of  exports  fell  considerably,  but  this  state  of  things 
was  not  of  sufficient  duration  to  affect  the  progress  o^ 
the  city,  or  of  the  country  generally. 

The  island  of  Hispaniola  was  reduced  by  the  French* 
but  was  recovered  by  the  blacks  assisted  by  the  eng- 
lish  blockading  squadron,  the  next  year,  when  Mr 
Jerome  Bonaparte  youngest  brother  of  the  then  first  Con- 
sul of  France,  with  General  Reubell  son  of  the 
lete  Director  Reubell,  came  here  on  their  way  home" 
ward  and  married. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  James  Whitehead  succeeds  Mr.  Ireland 
as  associate  minister  of  St.  Paul’s  and  Christ  churches* 
and  a number  of  members  of  that  church,  attached  to 
the  Rev.  George  Dashield,  commence  the  church  called 
St.  Peters,  in  Sharpe  street,  and  soon  after  a free  school 
for  children  of  that  society.  Doctor  Whitehead  remov- 
ing to  Norfolk,  is  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elijah  D. 
Ratoone,  as  associate  minister  of  St.  Paul’s,  &c. 

Early  in  1802,  the  prisoners  are  moved  to  the  now 
commodious  and  substantial  jail  on  Mill  street.  Messrs* 
Samuel  Owings,  James  Carroll,  John  Merryman,  James 
Carey  and  Col.  N.  Rogers  were  appointed  commission- 
ers to  build  the  jail  on  the  old  lot  by  an  act  of  1797,  but 
they  procured  authority  to  select  other  grounds  the  next 
session,  and  then  commenced  on  a plan  furnished  by 
Col.  Rogers,  R.  C.  Long,  Esq.  builder.  The  jail 
built  of  stone  and  brick,  stands  near  the  centre  of  a five 
acre  lot  adjoining  the  falls,  from  which  it  is  200  feet. 
The  front  south  west  is  1 57  feet,  exclusive  of  two  tow- 
ers for  sewers  of  twenty-five  feet  each ; and  thirty  five 
feet  deep,  with  projections  in  rear  of  each  wing;  there 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


176 


[1802 


are  twenty  cells,  capable.of  containing  twenty  persons 
each,  or  400  persons  in  all. 

After  the  census  of  1800,  Maryland  was  entitled  to 
nine  representatives  in  congress,  and  the  electoral  dis- 
tricts were  again  altered  by  act  of  assembly.  Balti- 
more city  and  county  became  the  5th,  to  elect  two,  one 
to  be  a resident  of  each,  jointly  elected;  and  general 
Smith  and  colonel  Nicholas  A.  Moore  were  elected, 
but  the  general  being  appointed  a senator  of  United 
States,  William  Maccreery,  Esq.  is  elected  to  congress 
in  his  place.  James  Purviance,  Esq.  is  elected  a mem 
ber  of  the  assembly  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Scott. 

On  the  2 1st  August,  departed  this  life,  aged  62  years, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Patrick  Allison,  founder  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian church  in  this  city,  who  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  James  Inglis.  Died,  also  in  this  city,  on  the  2d 
November,  aged  63  years,  Edward  ’Langworthy,  Esq. 
deputy  naval  officer,  and  formerly  member  of  congress 
from  the  state  of  Georgia. 


A new  act  having  passed  for  the  inspection  of  tobac* 
eo  in  1 SOI.  The  public  warehouse  on  the  Point  having 
become  insufficient  for  the  quantity  of  that  article 
brought  to  Baltimore;  the  levy  court  had  been  author” 
ised  to  license  another  warehouse  in  1799,  at  the  in- 
stance of  judge  Chase,  on  terms  he  disapproved  and  de- 
clined. But  James  Calhoun,  Esq.  obtains  anothor 
license  on  similar  terms,  erected  one  at  the  south  west 
corner  of  Pratt  and  Light  streets,  in  1803,  when  a simi- 
lar license  was  granted  to  Messrs.  Dugan  and  O’Donnell, 
to  erect  another  at  the  end  of  their  w harves. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE 


1803.] 


I i 


During  the  European  peace  which  succeeded  the  trea 
ty  of  Amiens,  Baltimore  became  the  Metropolitan  See 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  the  United  States. 
The  trustees  determined  to  build  a spacious  and  sub- 
stantial Cathedral  church,  which  was  commenced  three 
years  after.  It  was  also  in  1803,  that  the  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  Carroll,  Mr.  James  Priestly,  who  had  been  some- 
time principal  of  a respectable  seminary  in  St.  Paul's 
lane  and  others,  procure  a charter  lor  the  Baltimore  Col- 
lege, which  by  aid  of  a lottery,  was  erected  on  a plain 
but  convenient  stile  on  Mulberry  street,  the  Bishop 
being  appointed  President  of  the  Trustees. 

The  7th  day  of  February,  1803,  was  remarkable  in 
this  city  for  a great  fog  in  the  atmosphere,  and  towards 
night,  a porter  employed  at  Messrs.  Peters  and  Johnson’s 
brewery,  being  found  in  the  basin  with  his  horse  and 
dray,  was  supposed  to  have  missed  the  way,  driven  over 
the  end  of  Bowly’s  wharf  and  drowned. 

Thomas  Dixon  and  Cumberland  Dugan,  Esqs.  are 
elected  delegates  to  the  assembly,  and  Thomas  Bailey, 
Esq.  sheriff;  Thomas  Rutter,  Esq.  is  appointed  a jus- 
tice of  the  orphans  court. 


In  1804,  that  part  of  the  proceeds  of  ordinary  and  re- 
tailers licences  which  should  exceed  an  appropriation 
for  Washington  and  St.  John’s  Colleges,  and  which 
was  given  to  Baltimore  town  by  the  act  of  1784  already 
producing  $5000  per  annum,  was  by  the  legislature,  or 
dered  to  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  State.  Fortu 
nately  various  attempts  to  deprive  the  City  of  the  Aue- 

2 3 


178 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE, 


[1804 

tion  duties,  amounting  to  somewhat  more,  have  notsuc- 
eeeded,  and  by  specific  application  of  these  with  the 
tonnage  duty,  to  the  expense  of  deepening  the  harbour, 
Deptford  hundred  is  taxed  like  the  rest  of  the  City,  with- 
out violating  the  provisions  in  the  Charter  exempting 
that  district. 

Experiments  having  been  made  in  some  other  places, 
to  reduce  the  number  of  public  offences  committed,  by 
substituting  confinement  and  labour,  instead  of  public 
ami  degrading  punishment,  which  it  was  thought  had 
proved  successful;  the  legislature  had  as  early  as  1801, 
published  a plan  for  a similar  change  in  the  criminal 
law  of  this  State,  to  supersede  the  “wheelbarrow  law,” 
as  it  was  commonly  called,  and  now  resolve  to  erect  a 
Penitentiary  in  Baltimore.  Messrs.  John  E.  Howard, 
Thomas  Dixon,  Josias  Pennington,  Thomas  M'Elderry, 
Robert  C.  Long,  Levi  Hollingsworth,  Daniel  Conn, 
Samuel  Sterett  and  George  Warner,  Commissioners, 
purchase  grounds  and  erect  buildings  on  Madison 
Street,  near  the  York  road,  Mr.  Conn  being  the  arch- 
tect  and  builder;  and  in  .809,  anew  criminal  code  was 
adapted  to  the  institution,  leaving  the  commission  of 
Murder,  Arson,  Rape  and  Treason  only,  liable  to  the 
punishment  .of  death.  In  1804  the  Union  Bank  of  Ma- 
ryland is  organized  and  chartered,  William  Winches- 
ter Esq.  is  chosen  President  and  Ralph  Higginbothom, 
Esq.  Cashier.  In  1807  the  directors  build  the  spacious 
banking  house  on  North  Charles  Street,  of  which  Mr. 
Robert  C.  Long  was  architect  and  w ith  Mr.  W.  Steu* 
art  and  Col.  Mosher,  builder.  Messrs  Chevalier 
Andrea  and  Franzoni  performed  the  sculpture. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


179 


1804] 

The  proposed  capital  was  3,000,000,  and  2,312,150 
dols.  including  42,400  dols.  by  the  state,  were  paid,  but 
shares  to  the  amount  of  $224,250  were  purchased  by 
the  corporation  itself,  and  losses  sustained  previously* 
a law  was  obtained  1821,  reducing  the  capital  25  per 
cent. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Mechanics  Bank  is  incorpora- 
ted, and  in  1812  they  erect  their  Banking  house  at  the 
South  East  corner  of  Calvert  and  East  Streets.  The 
capital  intended  for  this  Bank  was,  one  Million,  of 
which  640,000  dollars  were  paid,  including  94,625  dol- 
lars by  the  State,  all  which,  in  consequence  of  losses  sus  • 
tained,  were  reduced  40  per  cent  by  act  of  1821.  Edwd. 
Johnson,  Esq.  is  chosen  Elector  of  President,  and  An- 
drew Ellicott  and  John  Stephens,  Esqs.  delegates. 

On  the  4th  March  1804,  died  here,  Robert  Carter, 
Esq.  aged  76  years,  formerly  member  of  the  Colonial 
Council  of  Virginia;  and,  at  New  York,  in  his  69th  year, 
Commodore  James  Nicholson,  formerly  of  this  town  and 
commander  of  the  public  ships  Defence,  Virginia,  Truro* 
bull,  &c.  in  the  war  of  Independence;  and  on  the  19th 
Sept,  aged  72  years,  William  Buchanan,  Esq.  formerly 
one  of  the  justices  of  the  county  and  Commissary  Gen- 
eral of  purchases  for  the  Continental  Army. 

In  1805  the  city  government  pass  an  ordinance  for 
the  inspection  of  flaxseed,  and  two  years  after  another 
for  the  inspection  of  butter  and  lard,  and  in  1814  ordi- 
nances are  passed  for  the  inspection  of  lime  and  char- 
coal. 


180 


ANNALS  6F  BALTIMORE. 


1805. 


By  a new  organization  of  the  courts  of  justice  at  the 
session  of  1804  and  1805,  the  general  court  was  abol- 
ished and  the  chief  justices  of  the  district  courts  were 
constituted  a court  of  appeals.  The  state  was  divided 
into  six  ^districts,  of  which  Baltimore  and  Harford  coun- 
ties was  the  last,  Robert  Smith,  Esq.  was  appointed 
chief  justice,  but  he  did  not  accept,  and  Joseph  H.  Nich- 
olson, Esq.  of  Queen  Annes  county,  was  appointed  and 
came  here  to  reside. 

The  associates  of  this  court  were  gentlemen  of  the 
law,  viz.  Benjamin  Rumsey  and  Thomas  Jones,  Esqs. 
and  the  counties  ceased  to  have  separate  associate  justi- 
ces. Zeb.  Hollingsworth,  Ecq.  was  appointed  in  the 
place  of  Mr.  Rumsey,  who  did  not  accept.  Judge  Jones 
died  in  1812,  and  was  succeeded  by  Theodorick  Bland, 
Esq. 

The  state  was  divided  into  eight  congressional  dis- 
tricts, and  Baltimore  city  and  county  being  the  5th> 
elect  one  member  for  each  by  joint  ticket.  Part  of  Anne 
x\rundel  county,  Annapolis  and  Baltimore  city,  being 
the  third  of  nine  districts,  elect  two  electors  of  Presi- 
dent. 

In  the  same  year  the  powers  of  the  trustees  of  the 
poor  are  transfered  to  the  levy  court. 

Thomas  Dixon,  Esq.  is  appointed  a judge  of  the  Or- 
phan’s court. 

At  the  session  of  1805,  Messrs.  Tho.  McElderry, 
Henry  Payson,  William  Jessop,  Alexander  McKim, 
John  McKim,  Junior,  Thomas  Dixon,  Thomas  Rutter, 
Robert  Stewart  and  W illiam  C.  Goldsmith,  are  appoint- 
ed commissioners  to  build  a new  Court  House,  and 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


181 


1805] 

having  decided  on  erecting  the  same  on  part  of  the  old 
public  ground,  North  Calvert  street,  the  same  is  begun 
according  to  the  designs  of  Mr.  George  Milleman,  who 
was  builder,  and  executed  the  wood  work,  Mr.  William 
Steuart  executed  the  stone  work,  and  Colonel  James 
Mosher  the  brick  work. 

The  county  records  were  removed  and  the  courts 
held  sessions  there  in  1809,  when  the  old  arched  court 
house  was  taken  down.  The  new  building  is  145  feet 
front  on  Church,  now  Lexington  street,  and  on  Wash- 
ington Square  65  feet  deep;  at  which  end  there  is  a 
courtroom  in  each  of  two  stories,  60  by  46  feet;  the 
basement  of  the  whole  is  arched  in  stone  and  brick 
work,  and  the  Orphan’s  court  and  clerks  rooms,  where 
the  records  are  kept,  vaulted  for  safety  against  fire. 

The  grand  lodge  of  Free  Masons,  of  which  Doctor 
John  Crawford  was  R.  W.  Grand  Master,  was  author 
ised  to  raise  a considerable  sum,  by  lottery,  to  aid  them 
in  erecting  a Masonic  Hall,  which  w as  not  commenced 
until  eight  years  after. 

The  Friends  or  Quakers  complete  their  new  meet- 
ing house  on  Lombard  street,  Mr.  John  Sinclair  archi- 
tect, for  the  accommodation  of  the  members  of  that  reli- 
gious society  on  the  west  side  of  the  city. 

The  exports  from  Maryland,  of  which  nearly  all  arc 
from  Baltimore,  from  October  1805  to  1806,  amounted 
to  $3,661,131,  domestic  produce,  $10,919,774  of  for- 
eign goods,  or  a total  of  $14,580,905,  and  the  receipts 
into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  from  this  city  for 
the  year  1806,  amounted  to  $1,224,897. 


1 82 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  1805] 

At  the  same  session,  1805,,  the  corporation  are  em- 
powered to  exclude  Rogers’s  addition,  on  the  east,  from 
the  operation  of  city  taxes  and  ordinances,  which  was 
never  carried  into  effect;  but  the  interests  of  the  proprie- 
tors of  those  grounds  have  been  protected  by  the  act  of 
1816,  extending  the  limits  and  powers  of  the  City  gov- 
ernment, and  providing  that  the  improved  parts  only* 
should  be  subject  to  direct  taxation. 

The  City  Delegates  introduced  a bill  to  alter  the  con- 
stitution of  the  State  so  as  to  give  the  city  an  additional 
representation,  but  on  the  second  reading,  it  was  rejec- 
ted by  the  vote  of  every  member  present  in  the  House  of 

legates , being  sixty  two,  except  the  two  from  the  city 
itself.  At  various  sessions  afterwards,  particularly  in 
1819,  1822  and  1823,  it  has  been  attempted  to  procure 
this  alteration,  for  two  additional  members  only,  as  ne- 
cessary as  it  is  just,  by  the  growth  of  the  city  in  popu- 
lation and  wealth,  creating  wants  of  legislation  equal 
almost  to  all  the  rest  of  the  State  besides;  but  it 
never  has  been  sanctioned  by  more  than  one  third  of 
the  members  present.  Many  of  our  best  citizens  are  so 
disgusted  at  this  inconsiderate  but  oppressive  treatment, 
that  they  keep  themselves  aloof  from  the  service  of  the 
people,  whilst  the  people  altogether  are  subject  to  re- 
proaches from  the  very  body  which  withholds  the  means 
of  good  government.  The  acts  of  assembly  relating  to 
our  police  are  defective,  sometimes  changed  without  our 
knowledge  or  consent,  and  not  a few  important  objects 
passed  over  entirely;  because  two  gentlemen,  if  they 
were  other  Solons  or  Lycurguses,  are  physically  incom. 
petent  to  compile,  much  less  digest  in  sessions  of  60  or 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


183 


1805.] 

90  days  duration,  all  the  laws  required  in  such  a new^ 
mixed  and  growing  community  as  this;  and  there  exists 
no  greater  obstruction  to  that  credit  and  prosperity  which 
should  result  from  patriotism  and  enterprize,  than  the 
want  of  good  laws. 

Ov  the  21st  January,  1806,  there  was  a public  meet- 
ing of  the  merchants  of  Baltimore,  at  which,  in  imitation 
of  those  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  they  resolved 
to  represent  to  the  general  government,  the  difficulties 
under  which  commerce  laboured  from  the  measures  of 
the  belligerents,  and  pray  for  redress  and  protection,  es- 
pecially for  the  carrying  trade.  L’Eole,  a French  seven- 
ty four,  part  of  a squadron  commanded  by  admiral 
Willaumez,  which  was  dispersed  by  a storm  on  the  coast, 
after  eluding  two  British  squadrons,  came  into  the  bay 
with  other  ships  under  commodore  Khrome,  and  stripped 
of  her  guns,  this  seventy-four  was  brought  here  a wreck 
and  sold. 

Messrs.  Sower  and  Hewes  establish  a type  foundry 
on  Lexington  street,  which  becoming  the  property  of 
other  gentlemen,  was  transferred  to  Biddle  street. 

William  Pinkney  was  appointed  attorney  general  on 
resignation  of  Mr.  Martin  in  1805,  but  fixed  his  resi- 
dence here  the  next  year  and  resigned,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed Envoy  Extraordinary  to  the  court  of  Great  Bri- 
tain; upon  which  J.  T.  Mason,  Esq.  was  appointed  and 
soon  after  John  Johnson,  Esq.  Thomas  Jennings,  Esq. 
son  of  Mr.  T.  Jennings,  former  attorney  general,  acting 
as  deputy  here;  but  in  181  K John  Montgomery,  Esq.  of 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


184 


[1800, 


Harford,  was  appointed  attorney  general  and  came  to 
reside. 

At  Chawan,  his  residence  in  the  county,  departed  this 
life  on  the  5th  April,  James  Winchester,  Esq.  judge  of 
the  United  States  District  Court,  and  formerly  member 
of  the  general  assembly,  and  same  year,  was  succeeded 
by  James  Houston,  Esq.  of  Kent  county;  and  on  the  9th 
October,  at  an  advanced  age,  died,  Robert  Purviance, 
Esq.  collector  of  the  port  of  Baltimore. 

Gabriel  Christie,  Esq.  of  Harford  county,  is  appoint- 
ed collector  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Purviance,  deceased^ 
and  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Christie,  the  next  year,  James 
H.  McCulloch,  Esq.  is  apppointed. 

In  1806,  the  Rev.  Doctor  Frederick  G.  Beasley  suc- 
ceeds Doctor  Ratoone  as  associate  minister  of  St. 
Paul’s  and  Christ  churches;  when  a number  of  the 
congregation  attached  to  the  former,  erect  the  church 
called  Trinity  church,  in  Polly  street.  Doctor  Ra- 
toone is  successively  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Ralph,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hicks  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  John 
V.  Bartow,  the  present  minister;  all  the  four  churches 
remaining  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese. 

On  the  5th  July,  1806,  departed  this  life  at  Dover,  in 
Delaware,  aged  70  years,  the  Rev.  Richard  Whatcoat^ 
who  wras  ordained  bishop  of  the  Methodist  church  in 
this  city  in  1800;  in  1808,  the  Rev.  William  McKen* 
dree  is  ordained  bishop,  and  in  1810,  the  society  erect 
their  spacious  church  on  north  Eutaw  street,  for  the 
accommodation  of  their  members  at  the  west  side  of  the 
city. 


1806]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  135 

On  the  6th  July,  the  foundation  stone  of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Cathedral  church  was  laid  on  a square  of 
ground  on  north  Charles  street,  obtained  of  Col.  Howard, 
on  terms  which  justly  entitled  him  to  be  considered  a 
large  contributor ; and  the  outside  walls,  of  grey  granite 
from  the  vicinity  of  Ellicott’s  mills  on  Patapsco,  were 
carried  up  to  the  entablature  in  a few  years,  when  the 
war,  with  other  causes,  suspended  its  progress. 

Alexander  McKim,  Esq.  is  chosen  elector  of  senate 
for  the  city,  and  Tobias  E.  Stansbury  and  Moses 
Brown,  Esqs.  for  the  county.  James  H.  McCulloch  and 
Thomas  McElderry,  Esqs.  are  elected  senators,  and 
next  year,  Elias  Glenn,  Esq.  in  place  of  Mr.  McCulloch 
resigned;  and  to  fill  another  vacancy  in  1808,  Thomas 
B.  Dorsey,  Esq.. Robert  Steuart  and  Edward  Aisquith, 
Esqs.  are  elected  delegates,  and  John  Hunter,  Esq. 
Sheriff. 

Early  in  1807  a company  is  organised,  to  procure 
regular  supplies  of  Calcutta  and  China  goods,  for  which 
our  traders  had  become  customary  of,  and  indebted  to 
the  eastern  merchants ; Robert  Gilmor  Esq.  is  president 
James  A.  Buchanan,  Esq.  Vice-President,  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Higginbothom,  Secretary.  The  Ships  Lon- 
pon  Packet,  capt.  Solomon  Rutter,  and  William  Bing- 
ham, capt.  John  Conyngham,  are  sent  out;  on  their 
return  during  the  Embargo,  the  company  divided  a 
handsome  interest  and  was  dissolved,  but  it  is  to  be  re- 
gretted perhaps,  that  such  a company  was  not  renewed 
, after  the  last  war. 


U 


fSt)  ANNALS’  OF  BALTIMORE.  Ig07"j 

The  orders  of  council  in  England,  made  to  relieve 
the  carrying  trade,  as  it  was  alleged,  hut  extending  the 
blockade  of  the  French  coasts,  producing  the  retaliating 
decree  of  Berlin,  and  the  president  rejecting  the  treaty 
negociated  at  London  by  Messrs.  Munroe  and  Pinkney, 
the  neutrality  of  the  United  States  became  more  obnox- 
ious there,  and  the  maritime  warfare  more  vexatious 
here  in  1807.  British  seamen  taking  all  opportunities  to 
desert  their  ships  of  war,  the  frigate  Chesapeake, 
destined  to  compose  part  of  an  American  squadron 
against  the  Barbary  powers  was  attacked  off  the  capes 
on  the  twenty  third  of  June,  by  part  of  a British  squad- 
ron then  laying  in  the  bay ; and,  being  overpowered, 
was  searched  and  some  of  her  crew  taken  out  as  deser- 
ters. On  the  arrival  of  the  news,  a. town  meeting  is 
held  and  an  address  strongly  reprobating  this  violence, 
was  sent  to  the  President,  who  soon  after  interdicted  all 
intercourse  with  the  British  ships,  by  proclamation. 

On  the  24th  August,  the  ship  Othello,  captain  Glover  % 
from  Liverpool,  was  boarded  and  taken  in  Patuxent,  by 
an  armed  boat  fitted  out  from  Baltimore  by  some  French 
seamen ; but,  opposed  by  contrary  winds,  they  abandon 
ed  her  to  the  captain.  As  soon  as  the  circumstances 
were  known,  commodore  Porter,  with  captains  Samuel 
and  Joseph  Sterett’s  companies,  accompanied  by  some 
other  volunteers,  go  in  pursuit,  and  bring  back  the  pi- 
rates. But  the  act  not  being  committed  on  the  high 
seas  or  within  the  body  of  any  county,  neither  in  the 
courts  of  the  general  government  or  of  the  state,  was 
there  punishment  provided  for  the  case,  as  it  turned  outa 
and  they  were  consequently  discharged.  However,  the 


1807.]  % ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 

jurisdiction  of  such  offences  was  settled  by  law  the  en- 
suing session  of  the  assembly,  and  the  acts  may  be 
tried  in  any  county  where  the  perpetrators  may  be  Hist 
taken  or  brought. 

On  the  3d  of  November,  soon  after  the  acquital  of 
Aaron  Burr,  late  Vice  President,  charged  with  treason 
and  tried  before  chief  justice  Marshall  and  the  district 
judge  at  Richmond,  the  populace  paraded  the  streets 
with  the  effigies  of  ^he  Chief  Justice,  Luther  Martin, 
Esq.  one  of  the  counsel,  Burr  and  Blennerhasset,  which 
they  afterwards  commit  to  the  flames,  as  an  evidence  of 
their  dissatisfaction  with  the  issue  of  the  trial. 

France  and  England  continue  to  increase  their  re- 
strictions on  neutral  commerce,  the  former  by  the  exe- 
cution of  the  Berlin  decree,  blockading  England,  but 
partially  suspended  as  to  us  until  now,  and  the  latter  by 
her  orders  to  take  British  subjects  from  on  board  neu- 
tral vessels,  then  just  announced  in  the  Gazettes.  Con- 
gress lay  a general  embargo,  which  is  received  and  en- 
forced here  on  the  2 3d  of  December;  it  was  unlimited  in 
duration,  and  continued  until  16th  March,  1809. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that  foreign  goods 
rose  and  produce  fell  in  price  immediately ; of  the  latter, 
indeed  much  perished  entii’ely,  and  the  growth  of  the 
city  was  checked,  with  the  general  sufferings  of  the 
country. 

Zealous  to  extend  the  medical  school  they  had  com- 
menced, Doctors  Davidge,  Shaw  and  Cocke  apply  to 
the  legislature  for  the  privilege  of  establishing  a col- 
lege and  license  to  raise  funds  by  lottery  to  erect  suit- 
able buildings,  which  are  granted ; and  their  hall  in  Lon^ 


188  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE  j ‘ [180T 

bard  street,  of  which  Mr.  R.  C.  Long  was  architect 
and  with  Messrs.  Towson  and  Mosher,  builders,  is  com- 
menced. 

The  college,  as  originally  organised,  was  composed 
of  Doctors  Davidge  and  Cocke,  joint  professors  of  anato- 
my, surgery  and  physiology;  Doctor  George  Brown,  of 
the  practice  and  theory  of  medicine ; Doctor  Shaw  of 
chemistry;  Doctor  Thomas  E.  Bond  of  materia  medica , 
and  Doctor  William  Donaldson  ofJ;he  institutes  of  me- 
dicine. Doctors  Brown,  Bond  and  Donaldson  declined, 
and  Doctor  Nathaniel  Potter  was  elected  professor  of 
the  practice  and  theory  of  medicine;  Doctor  Samuel 
Baker  materia  medica , and  the  institutes  were  united  to 
the  professorships  of  anatomy,  &c.  Soon  after  entering 
upon  their  duties,  Doctor  Shaw  departed  this  life,  and 
Elisha  De  Butts  was  elected  professor  of  chemistry  in  his 
place.  Doctor  Davidge  resigned  part  of  his  professsional 
duties  in  the  college;  and  Doctor  William  Gibson,  then 
lately  returned  from  Europe,  delivered  an  introductory 
lecture  on  anatomy  and  surgery,  but  did  not  then  pursue 
the  course,  and  the  lectures  were  suspended  for  a short 
time. 

The  receipts  from  the  customs  at  Baltimore  this  year, 
amounted  to  $1,440,527 ; the  postage  paid  $29,950,  and 
the  hospital  money  to  be  paid  to  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States,  for  the  mariner's  fund,  4,504  dollars. 

Thomas  B.  Dorsey,  Esq.  is  elected  a member  of  as- 
sembly in  the  place  of  Mr.  Aisquith. 

Died,  at  his  resi4ence  in  the  county,  at  an  advanced 
-age,  on  the  7th  of  May,  Thomas  Cockey  Deye,  Esq.  for- 
merly a member  of  the  house  of  delegates,  of  which  he 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE* 


189 


1807.] 

was  many  years  Speaker,  and  one  of  the  framers  of  the 
constitution;  and  at  Ferley,  his  residence  near  town,  on 
the  12th  of  November,  Daniel  Bowley,  Esq.  formerly 
one  of  the  members  of  the  senate  of  Maryland.  j 

In  1808,  the  Lutheran  Society  dispose  of  their  old 
place  of  worship,  and  purchasing  the  adjacent  lot,  com- 
modiously  situated  between,  and  running  from  Gay  to 
Holliday  Street,  erect  their  present  spacious  and  hand- 
some Church,  of  which  Mr.  George  Roerback  was  ar- 
chitect ; and  Robert  Oliver,  Esq.  erects  his  house  on  the 
West  side  of  South  Gay  Street,  of  which  Mr.  Robert 
Carey  Long  was  architect,  and  with  Mr.  W.  Steuart  and 
Col.  Mosher,  builder. 

The  City  Hospital  is  leased  by  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  to  Doctors  Mackenzie  and  Smyth,  or  the  survi- 
vors of  them,  for  the  term  of  15  years,  on  certain  impro- 
ving conditions;  which  term  was  extended  in  1814  to 
25  years,  they  erecting  additional  buildings;  and  since 
the  decease  of  Dr.  Smyth,  the  uses  are  confirmed  in  fa- 
vor of  Dr.  Macenzie’s  son,  by  act  of  Assembly.  The 
Hospital  to  be  used  for  the  treatment  of  maniacs  and 
diseased  persons  exclusively,  those  sent  by  the  corpora- 
tion, at  fixed  rates,  and  to  be  subject  to  inspection  by  the 
city  officers.  The  Doctors  obtained  facilities  from  the 
state,  in  loans  and  lotteries,  and  erected  a centre  build- 
ing of  brick  four  stories,  64  by  56  feet,  and  two  wings 
120  by  36  feet  each,  three  stories,  so  that  the  whole 
front  is  above  300  feet  from  east  to  west.  Messrs.  Mil- 
leman  and  Dail,  architects,  and  with  Messrs.  W.  Steuart, 
Mosher  and  Allen,  builders. 


190 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


1808 


A polemic  or  Debating  Society  had  been  formed  sev- 
eral years  before,  which  held  its  meetings  in  the  Octa- 
gon building,  west  of  the  city  spring,  but  was  succeed- 
ed by  a political  club,  under  the  name  of  “Tammany, ’ 
and  in  1810,  another  political  society  under  the  name  of 
“ Washington,”  was  established,  the  latter  maintaining  a 
free  school  for  some  time,  but  both  societies  have  ceased. 

On  the  17th  May  1808,  the  convention  of  Bishops, 
Clergy  and  Laity  of  the  Protestant  episcopal  church  in 
the  United  States  assembled  in  this  city,  by  adjourn- 
ment from  the  convention  at  New  York  in  1804.  This 
convention  adjourned  to  meet  at  New  Haven  in  1811, 
and  conventions  are  held  trienally,  but  not  since  at  Bal- 
timore. 

On  the  14th  March,  Judge,  a convict,  brought  from 
the  roads  to  lodge  in  jail,  and  several  others,  by  means 
of  false  keys,  open  their  cells,  seize  upon  the  arms  and 
wound  Mr.  Green  the  keeper  and  several  debtors,  one 
mortally,  and  make  their  escape.  Four  of  them  were 
retaken,  condemned  and  executed  in  the  jail  lot  a few 
Weeks  after. 

In  1808,  a society  is  formed  to  carry  on  the  Manufac- 
ture of  cotton  goods  on  a very  extensive  scale,  and  works 
are  erected  for  the  purpose  on  Patapsco  River,  near  El- 
licott’s  Mills,  being  chartered  by  the  legislature  and 
called  “the  Union  Manufactoring  Company,”  next  year 
the  Washington  company  was  chartered,  their  works 
being  on  Jone’s  Falls;  the  “Powhattan  works”  on 
Gwinns  Falls,  and  the  Athenian  company  for  the  sale  of 
domestic  goods,  were  established  in  1810. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


191 


18.08.] 

In  1814,  Messrs  Robert  and  Alexander  M’Kim  erect 
works  on  French  Street,  by  steam  power,  and  the  Frank- 
lin company  erect  works  on  Gwinns  Falls;  and  in  1816 
the  Independent  and  Warren  companies,  the  latter  hav- 
ing erected  very  extensive  cotton  works  on  Gunpowder 
near  the  York  road. 

An  additional  assessment  of  city  property  was  made 
this  year  amounting  to  111,111?.  7s.  8d.  making  the 
whole  subject  to  city  tax  at  the  time  ?946,326  19s.  10*?. 
or  2,522,870  dollars.  The  assessment  continued  to  be 
made  in  the  old  currency,  but  the  accounts  of  the  city 
were  kept  in  dollars  and  cents,  from  the  date  of  the 
charter,  those  of  the  county  were  not  altered  until  1813, 
when  the  assessment  also  was  made  in  the  new  money. 

On  the  4th  October  1808,  several  pipes  of  gin  imported 
from  Holland,  having  been  taken  to  England  on  the  pas 
sage  and  subjected  to  new  duties  there,  were  by  consent 
*of  the  owner  taken  to  the  commons  and  publickly  burned. 
On  the  18th  an  English  journeyman  shoemaker,  named 
Beattie,  having  used  some  expressions  on  politicks 
which  offended  his  fellow  workmen,  they  tar  and  feather 
him,  and  drive  him  in  a cart  from  the  corner  of  South 
and  Baltimore  Streets  to  the  point,  and  back  again,  fol- 
lowed by  Mr.  Smith  the  Mayor,  who,  with  a number  of 
citizens  at  length  arrest  one  of  the  journeymen  and  sev- 
eral other  persons ; some  of  them-after  giving  bail,  were 
tried  and  condemned  to  three  months  imprisonment  and 
a fine  of  $50  each,  but  were  all  pardoned  and  the  fines 
remitted  by  the  Governor  of  the  State. 

Pursuant  to  an  act  pas- ed  at  the  last  session  of  the 
Assembly,  confirmed  by  a special  convention  of  delei, 


192 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1808. 

gates  in  the  City  the  8th  February,  eight  gentlemen  are 
elected  in  their  respective  wards,  members  of  the  second 
branch  of  City  Council,  as  the  members  of  the  other 
branch  were  elected,  and  sixteen  electors  of  Mayor  by 
a general  ticket ; the  property  qualifications  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  first  branch  being  reduced  to  300  dollars,  of 
the  second  branch  and  of  the  Mayor  to  500  dollars ; and 
at  the  usual  time  of  meeting  of  electors 

Edward  Johnson,  Esq.  is  elected  Mayor  of  the  City, 
and  also  elector  of  President  and  Vice  President.  Alex- 
ander M’Kim,  Esq.  is  elected  to  Congress  and  The- 
odorick  Bland?  Esq.  member  of  Assembly,  in  place  of  Mr. 
Dorsey. 

John  Scott,  Esq.  is  appointed  chief  justice  of  the 
Criminal  court  in  the  place  of  Judge  Dorsey  resigned. 

It  was  necessary  in  the  course  of  this  winter,  to  make 
collections  for  the  relief  of  the  poor,  suffering  for  want 
of  employment  and  adequate  assistance  from  legal  estab- 
lishments. On  the  16th  March  1809,  Congress  raised 
the  embargo  and  trade  and  prosperity  was  revived.  The 
exports  from  Maryland,  which  in  1807  amounted  to 
14,308,984  dollars,  fell  the  next  year  to  2,721,106  dol- 
lars, and  rose  in  1809  to  6,627,326  dollars.  The  ton- 
nage at  the  last  period  was,  143,392  tons,  of  Baltimore, 
102,434  tons. 

The  natural  springs  of  water,  with  which  the  soil  ori- 
ginally abounded,  being  threatened  with  destruction  by 
other  improvements,  Jesse  Hollingsworth  and  Peter 
Hoffman,  Esqs.  solicit  and  obtain  power  to  purchase  the 
ground  and  spring  on  North  Calvert  Street  for  the  cor- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


193 


1809.] 

poration ; and,  with  Mr.  John  Davis,  are  appointed  to 
erect  a public  fountain  there.  Eight  years  after,  money 
is  appropriated  by  the  city  government,  for  the  purchase 
and  improvement  of  the  springs  in  the  South  and  East 
parts  of  the  city,  known  by  the  names  of  Cloppe’s  and 
Sterett’s  springs,  and  soon  after  a fountain  of  running 
water,  supplied  by  the  water  company,  is  fixed  at  the  Cen- 
tre market  at  the  expense  of  the  city. 

In  this  year  were  completed  the  three  great  turnpike 
roads,  which  in  are  being  sixty  six  feet,  by  the  act  of 
1787,  and  twenty  feet  wide,  stoned  twelve  inches  deep, 
altogether  about  150  miles  in  length,  cost,  including  the 
bridges,  above  a million  and  a half  of  dollars,  or  10,000 
dollars  per  mile  on  an  average ; but  they  added  as  much 
at  least,  to  the  value  of  the  land  through  or  by  which 
they  passed,  while  they  secured  a constant  intercourse 
with  the  city  and  a supply  of  fuel  and  provision  for  the 
citizens,  which,  before,  was  often  suspended  entirely  at 
the  commencement  and  close  of  the  winter  seasons. 
Since  then,  the  banks  have  completed  the  Cumberland 
road,  58  miles,  at  an  expense  of  near  half  a million 
more,  and  good  gravelled  roads  have  been  turnpiked  in 
every  other  direction. 

It  wras  also  in  1809,  Messrs.  John  Comegys,  James 
A.  Buchanan,  David  Winchester,  and  others  obtain  per- 
mission to  raise  100,000  dollars  by  lottery,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  erecting  a monument  to  the  memory  of  General 
Washington;  and  on  the  4th  of  July,  1815,  a marble 
pillar  was  commenced  by  Messrs.  W illiam  Steuart  and 
Thomas  Towson,  according  to  a design  furnished  by  Ro- 


194 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1809. 

bert  Mills,  Esq.  on  ground  given  by  Col.  Howard,  at 
the  intersection  of  John,  now  Monument  and  Charles 
streets.  The  base  or  plynth,  fifty  feet  square,  is  elevat- 
ed twenty  feet ; the  pillar  is  twenty  feet  diameter  at  base 
and  160  feet  feet  high  and  finished.  On  this  is  to  be 
placed  a statue  of  the  patriot  whose  memory  the  mon- 
ument is  intended  to  honor  and  perpetuate. 

A number  of  private  benefit  societies,  of  tradesmen 
and  others  had  been  instituted,  some  of  which  were  dis- 
continued, but  in  1809  a charter  is  granted  for  “The 
Carpenter’s  Humane  Society;”  another  society  is  char- 
tered in  1811  by  the  name  of  “The  Humane  Impartial 
Society.”  In  1814  “the  Beneficial  Society”  is  chartered, 
and  two  years  after  “theUnion  Beneficial  Society,”  when 
the  Saint  Andrews  Society,  formed  in  1806,  is  charter- 
ed; the  next  year,  the  Hibernian  formed  in  1803,  and 
German  society  of  which  there  was  one  in  1784,  are 
incorporated;  the  object  of  the  three  last  being  chiefly 
intended  to  assist  emigrants  lately  come  into  the  coun. 
try,  or  who  may  hereafter  come. 

The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  expiring 
without  a prospect  of  being  renewed,  pecuniary  difficul- 
ties were  experienced  or  anticipated,  and  the  several 
banks,  called  the  Commercial  and  Farmers,  the  Farmers 
and  Merchants,  the  Franklin  and  the  Marine  banks 
were  organized  and  chartered. 

The  capital  of  these  four  banks  wras  $1,709,100  ac- 
tually paid,  including  83,150  dollars  by  the  state;  and 
two  years  after,  the  City  Bank  w ith  839,405  dollars  all 
private  stock.  This  institution,  got  up  without  the 
State’s  sanction,  as  some  others  of  the  kind  had  been 


1809.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  ]95 

produced  an  alarm  in  the  Legislature  which  was  inju- 
rious to  them  all,  and  was  a presage  of  its  destiny. 

On  granting  it  the  state  tendered  the  banks  an  ex- 
tension of  their  charters  until  1835,  provided  they  made 
a turnpike  road  to  Cumberland,  with  the  profits  of  the 
tolls,  &c.  which  was  accepted;  next  year  they  are  re- 
quired to  pay  $200,000  or  be  subjected  to  a tax  of  20 
cents  per  $100  on  the  capital,  which  last  they  also  ac- 
cept, even  those  banks  whose  capitals  are  reduced.  But 
a proposed  consolidation  of  all  the  banks  contained  in  an 
act  of  1 8 1 5,  is  rejected . 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  a treaty  with  England 
agreed  on  at  Washington,  was  rejected  by  the  British 
government,  and  the  frigate  Africaine  brought  over 
Francis  J.  Jackson,  Esq.  to  succeed  Mr.  Erskine  as 
minister.  Some  of  the  crew  deserted  the  frigate  at  An- 
napolis, and  coming  here,  were  arrested  and  imprisoned 
at  the  instance  of  the  British  Consul,  but  much  clamour 
was  excited,  the  seamen  were  brought  before  Judge 
Scott  upon  a hjabeus  corpus  and  discharged. 

General  Smith  is  re-elected  a Senator  of  the  United 
States;  William  G.  D.  Worthington,  Esq.  is  elected  a 
delegate  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Steuart;  and  William  Mer- 
ryman,  Esq.  Sheriff. 

An  appropriation  of  10,000  dollars  was  made  in 
1808,  and  the  Mayor  and  City  Commissioners  directed 
to  build  a stone  bridge  over  Jones’  Falls,  at  Baltimore 
street.  The  materials  of  the  first  stone  bridge  remain- 
ing in  the  bed  of  the  falls  it  was  found  impracticable  to 
sink  a coffre  dam  which  rendered  it  necessary  to  pile 


196 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  18  1GJ 

the  foundation  of  the  abutments  and  pier.  This  bridge 
of  two  arches,  built  of  common  quarry  stone  from 
Jones’  Falls,  furnished  with  side  walks  and  iron  rail- 
ings, is  40  feet  wide  and  80  feet  long,  cost  22,000 
dollars;  Messrs.  Lester  and  Dickenson,  builders. 

By  the  census  taken  in  1810,  it  appears  that  there 
were,  white  males,  19,045;  females  17,147;  other  free 
persons  5,671;  slaves  4,672,  total  46,555  inhabitants 
here,  including  10,971  in  the  precincts,  that  is,  4,050  in 
the  east  and  6,922  in  the  west  precinct.  The  ratio  of 
representation  is  fixed  by  Congress  at  one  representa- 
tive for  every  35,000  of  free  whites  and  3-5  of  the 
slaves,  which  produced  no  alteration  of  the  number  of 
Congressmen  from  this  state  or  district. 

Peter  Little,  esqr.  is  elected  member  of  Congress 
for  the  city  and  county,  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Moore,  and 
James  Martin,  esq.  is  elected  delegate  to  the  Assembly 
in  the  place  of  Mr.  Worthington.  Cornelius  H.  Gist, 
esq.  is  appointed  a Justice  of  the  Orphan’s  Court. 

On  the  28th  May,  died  Thomas  McElderry,  esq.  and 
15th  July,  David  McMechen,  esq.  both  formerly  mem- 
bers of  the  Senate  of  the  State;  and  on  the  13th  Au- 
gust, Thorowgood  Smith,  esq.  late  Mayor  of  the  city, 
ajid  formerly  one  of  the  county  justices. 

The  council  determine  to  proceed  in  erecting  sub- 
stantial bridges,  and  authority  is  given  to  the  Mayor 
and  City  Commissioners  to  borrow  from  the  banks 
26,000  dollars  towards  bridges  to  be  built  of  stone  at 
Pratt  and  Gay  streets.  The  Pratt  street  bridge  was 
undertaken  by  Mr.  Lewis  Hart,  for  20,000  dollars;  84 


1811.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  197 

feet  long  and  50  feet  wide,  having  three  arches,  made 
and  finished  as  the  other  was. 

The  Gay  street  bridge  erected  the  year  after  by  Mr. 
John  Kennedy,  under  the  direction  of  the  mayor  and 
commissioners,  was  60  feet  long  and  50  feet  wide,  with 
two  arches,  made  and  finished  as  the  above,  cost  1 6,000 
dollars.  The  current  revenue  sufficed  to  pay  the  cost 
of  these  bridges,  including  the  money  borrowed,  for  as 
yet  there  was  no  permanent  city  debt. 

The  two  old  wooden  bridges  at  Bath  and  Water 
streets  were  so  low,  that  in  the  great  fresh  of  1817,  the 
last  was  floated  against  the  stone  bridge  at  Pratt  street, 
and  the  former  against  that  of  Gay  street,  by  which  the 
falls  water  could  not  pass  under  them,  the  west  abut- 
ments were  overflowed  with  the  lower  part  of  the  town 
adjacent  thereto,  and  the  bridges  injured ; the  Gay  street 
bridge  so  much  so,  that  it  became  necessaiy  to  replace 
it  by  a new  one  soon  after. 

On  the  1 6th  May,  at  night,  the  frigate  United  States 
and  British  sloop  of  war  Little  Belt  had  a serious  ren- 
counter, and  the  latter  was  surrendered  to  Commodore 
Rodgers,  but  he  refused  to  receive  her,  and  tendered  the 
commander  assistance  to  repair  the  ship. 

On  the  18th  November,  fifty  one  convicts  wrere  trans- 
ferred from  the  roads  to  the  Penitentiary,  by  their  own 
option,  and  on  the  24th  January  following,  the  fust 
person  is  received  there  pursuant  to  sentence.  These 
buildings  consisted  of  a spacious  dwelling  about  60 
feet  square,  fronting  towards  the  south  and  50  feet 
from  the  north  side  of  Madison  street,  elevated  two  sto- 
ries and  a basement  above  ground ; and  a wing  on  the 


198 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1807. 

west  projecting  northerly  156  feet,  30  feet  wide,  with 
12  vaulted  cells  10  by  20  each,  in  each  of  four  stories, 
connected  with  the  dwelling  by  a close  but  spacious 
gallery.  The  houses  are  of  brick  work,  executed  by 
Mr.  John  Shaw,  the  stone  cutters  work  by  Mr.  S.  Hick- 
ley;  the  buildings  and  the  inclosures,  include  al- 
together about  four  acres.  These  are  four  feet  thick 
and  20  feet  elevation.  On  the  5th  March,  1817  at 
night,  the  wing  occupied  by  the  criminals,  containing 
about  300,  was  set  on  fire, and  nearly  consumed,  but  no 
lives  were  lost,  nor  did  any  person  escape,  and  the 
wing,  which  may  lodge  500  convicts,  was  immediately 
re  built,  22  solitary  cells  being  substituted  in  the  part 
of  the  wing  first  appropriated  for  public  worship.  On 
the  28th  August,  1820,  a mutiny  took  place  in  the  men’s 
court,  and  one  convict  was  killed  and  two  others 
wounded  by  the  guard;  of  whom  four  armed  are  station- 
ed on  the  walls  during  the  day.  The  want. of  private 
lodgings  is  the  only  defect  of  the  establishment. 

Several  unsuccessful  attempts  had  been  made  to  pub_ 
jish  periodical  wTorks  of  literary  character,  but  in  Sep- 
tember 1811,  Mr.  Hez.  Niles  established  his  Weekly 
Register  of  state  papers,  and  in  April  1819,  a weekly 
paper  devoted  to  agricultural  subjects  chiefly,  is  estab- 
lished by  Mr.  John  S.  Skinner,  under  the  title  of  “The 
American  Farmer.” 

At  the  session  of  181 1 the  legislature  deprived  the 
corporation  of  the  city,  of  the  appointment  of  inspectors 
and  corders  of  fire  wood,  brought  by  water. 

On  the  16th  December  at  night  was  killed  at  his  re- 
sidence in  South  near  Pratt  Street,  Vincent  L’Her- 


1811 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


199 


mite,  hair  dresser,  from  France,  who  had  realised  a con- 
siderable property,  notwithstanding  eccentricities  in  re- 
ligion and  politics,  which  rendered  his  genuine  cha- 
racter doubtful.  He  was  without  any  family,  and  the 
perpetrators  of  the  act  were  never  discovered. 

Andrew  Clemments  an  industrious  french  gardner,  at 
the  North  extremity  of  Gay  street,  was  killed  on  the 
25th  October  1817,  at  night,  for  which  another  French- 
man of  the  name  of  John  Lamarde,  who  was  in  his  em- 
ploy at  the  time,  was  tried  convicted  and  sentenced  to 
die,  but  previous  to  the  time  appointed  for  his  execution 
put  an  end  to  his  own  life  in  prison;  and  on  the  1 Oth  of 
December,  1821,  also  at  night,  Mr.  Claude  Jolly,  who 
kept  a store  in  South  Charles  Street,  without  any  family 
or  attendants,  was  murdered,  and  the  perpetrators  of  the 
crime  remain  undiscovered. 

William  Pinkney,  Esq.  returned  from  England  leav- 
ing John  Spear  Smith,  Esq.  Charge  des  Affaires. 

On  the  first  of  April  1811,  Robert  Smith,  Esq.  re- 
signed the  office  of  Secretary  of  State,  and  was  offered 
the  embassy  of  Russia,  but  declined. 

Jas.  L.  Donaldson  and  William  Pechin,  Esqs.  are 
elected  delgates  to  the  Assembly;  Edward  Johnson,  Esq. 
is  chosen  by  the  city  an  elector  of  the  Senate,  and  Wm. 
Pinkney,  Wm.  M’Creery  and  Levi  Hollingsworth,  Esqs. 
are  elected  Sentors;  and  afterwards,  in  the  places  of 
Messrs.  Pinkney  and  M’Creery,  N.  Williams,  Esq.  and 
Dr.  Thomas  Johnson. 

On  the  17th  June,  departed  this  life,  aged  70  years, 
Samuel  Chase,  Esq.  one  of  the  associate  judges  of  the 
Supreme,  Court  of  the  United  States,  formerly  Chief  Jut;- 


200 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE 


[1811 

tice  of  the  general  court,  agent  of  the  State  in  London y 
member  of  Congress  and  one  of  the  framers  of  the  consti- 
tution of  the  State. 

On  the  decease  of  Judge  Chase,  Gabriel  Duvall,  Esq. 
of  Prince  George’s  county,  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States;  and 
with  the  judge  of  the  district,  continues  to  hold  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  of  the  United  States  in  this  city,  having  late- 
ly obtained  for  that  purpose,  the  use  of  the  Masonic 
Hall.  Died  also,  at  his  residence  in  Anne  Arundel  coun- 
ty, on  the  22 d June,  Henry  Ridgely,  Esq.  formerly  chief 
justice  of  the  County  Court  of  this  district. 

A prospective  and  conditional  repeal  of  the  decrees 
of  France,  not  producing  any  concessions  on  the  part  of 
her  antagonist,  Congress  lay  an  embargo  the  4th  April 
for  90  days.  On  the  16th  May  a meeting  of  democratic 
citizens  is  called,  and  a numerous  committee  offered  the 
government  a pledge  of  support  in  case  of  war  with  Eng- 
land or  France,  or  both.  War  is  declared  against  Eng- 
land on  the  18th  June  1812.  On  the  20th  a collection 
of  people,  offended  at  the  opposition  to  the  war  main- 
tained in  their  editorial  and  other  meetings,  by  the  edi- 
tors of  the  Federal  Republican  newspaper,  attack  and  de- 
molish the  office  at  the  N.  W.  corner  of  Gay  and  Second 
Streets  with  the  presses,  types,  &c.  On  the  27th  July 
one  of  the  editors  A.  C.  Hanson,  Esq.  and  several 
friends  of  the  establishment,  having  brought  the  paper 
from  Georgetown,  distribute  it  from  a house  in  South 
Charles  Street,  which  had  been  the  dwelling  of  Jacob 
W agner,  Esq.  the  other  editor,  and  which  they  propose 


1812 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


201 


to  defend.  In  the  evening  an  affray  took  place,  but  after 
killing  one  person  and  wounding  others,  one  or  two 
mortally,  wTho  were  among  the  assailants,  the  house  sur= 
rendered  to  the  city  officers,  and  the  editor  and  his  friends 
to  the  numher  of  twrenty-two  are  conducted  in  the  morn- 
ing by  the  Mayor,  General  Strieker  and  a few  of  the 
militia,  to  the  prison ; here  they  are  again  attacked  on  the 
ensuing  night,  and  Gen.  James  M.  Lingan  of  George 
town,  is  killed,  and  Mr.  John  Thompson  tarred  and 
feathered,  carted  to  the  point  and  otherwise  cruelly 
treated;  the  rest  less  hurt,  but  generally  beaten  and 
wounded  more  or  less.  Some  citizens,  devoted  at  all 
times  to  their  own  peace  and  priv  ate  affairs,  shunned 
those  scenes  of  contention  and  violence,  others,  as  is 
usual  in  the  summer  season,  were  absent  in  the  country, 
and  the  rioters  having  thus,  by  help  of  the  night  and  ex* 
ercise  of  some  artifice,  eluded  the  efforts  which  were 
made  to  restrain  them,  conceived  themselves  masters  of 
the  city  and  proceeded  to  hunt  out  and  expel  such  as  were 
obnoxious  to  them ; but,  threatening  at  last  to  break 
open  the  post  office,  where  the  offensive  paper  had  been 
sent  for  distribution  again,  an  imposing  force  was  assem- 
bled, they  were  dispersed  and  tranquillity  restored. 

Presentments  were  found  against  many  individuals  of 
each  party,  but  all  were  acquitted  and  discharged;  those 
who  defended  the  house  in  Charles  Street,  at  Annapolis, 
where  their  trial  was  removed  from  Baltimore,  the  others 
in  the  city. 

The  citizens  petition  to  have  the  jail  inclosed,  and 
a wall  was  erected  of  stone,  1 1 feet  high,  with  a porters 

26 


202  ANNALS  OF' BALTIMORE.  [1812 

lodge,  pursuant  to  an  act  of  the  ensuing  session,  which 
also  provided  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  pri. 
soners,  and  a tax  upon  retailers  of  spirits  within  the  city 
and  precincts,  towards  the  expense  of  the  establishment 
and  repairs.  In  181 7,  the  levy  court  cause  another  in- 
closure with  brick,  22  feet  high,  to  be  made  in  the  rear 
of  the  jail,  to  afford  the  prisoners  open  air  and  the  use 
of  a pump,  at  descretion  of  the  keeper.  On  the  night 
after  Whitsunday,  same  year,  eight  or  nine  desperadoes 
having  procured  some  powder,  blow  up  the  interior  wrall 
of  their  cell  and  rush  out,  but  are  most  of  them  retaken 
and  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 

Several  gentlemen  took  commissions  in  the  regular 
army  as  soon  as  w ar  was  declared,  among  others  Messrs. 
William  H.  Winder,  George  E.  Mitchell,  Jacob  Hind- 
man, Nathan  Towson,  R.  C.  Nicholas,  Benjamin  Nich- 
olson, Stephen  W.  Presstman  and  Francis  Belton;  and 
Capt.  Stephen  H.  Moore  marched  a company  of  volun- 
teers to  the  Canada  frontier. 

On  the  18th  November  1812,  Col.  Winder  effected 
a landing  on  the  enemy’s  shore,  but  wTas  recalled,  and 
soon  after  appointed  Brigadier  General. 

A number  of  privateers  were  fitted  out  directly  the 
war  was  declared;  among  others  were  the  Rossie,  Capt. 
Barney;  Comet,  Boyle;  Dolphin,  Stafford ; Nonsuch, 
Levely;  American,  Richardson;  Tom,  Wilson,  and  Re- 
venge, Miller. 

On  the  15th  September,  departed  this  life  the  Revd. 
Dr.  Jos.  G.  J.  Bend,  the  zealous  and  eloquent  rector  of 
St.  Pauls  Parish  above  20  years,  and  is  succeeded  by 
the  Revd.  Dr.  James  Kemp,  who  in  181 J is  consecrated 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


203 


1812.] 

S ifiragan  Bishop  of  Maryland,  and  the  Revd.  Dr.  Wm. 
E.  Wyatt  is  appointed  associate  minister  of  St.  Pauls  and 
Christ  Churches,  in  the  place  of  Dr.  Beasly  moved  to 
Philadelphia. 

On  the  decease  of  the  Right  Revd.  Bishop  Claggett, 
in  1816,  Doct.  Kemp  becomes  Bishop  of  the  diocese,  and 
the  first  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  resi- 
ding in  Baltimore. 

At  this  last  period  the  Revd.  Mr.  Dashield  renounces 
his  connexion  with  that  religious  society, and  some  of  the 
members  of  St.  Peters  congregation  and  others  attached 
to  him,  erect  the  church  in  North  Liberty  Street,  called 
St.  Johns;  upon  which  the  Revd.  John  P.  K,  Henshaw 
is  chosen  rector  of  St.  Peters  Church,  Sharp  Street. 

Mr.  John  Morton  erected  an  air  furnace  on  the  south 
side  of  the  basin  ten  years  before,  and  now  Mr.  William 
Barker  erects  the  one  on  North  Calvert  street,  where 
castings  are  made  for  mills,  steam  engines,  &c. 

On  the  21st  November  the  extensive  and  valuable 
brewery  of  Messrs.  Johnson  and  Company,  was  destroy- 
ed by  fire,  but  was  rebuilt  soon  after. 

Samuel  Owings,  of  Stephen,  ^sq.  is  appointed  one  of 
the  Justices  of  the  Orphan’s  Court. 

Colonel  Moore  is  elected  to  Congress  in  the  place 
of  Mr.  Little,  and  Edward  Johnson,  esq.  is  elected  one 
of  the  electors  of  President  and  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States.  William  B.  Barney,  esq.  was  elected  a 
delegate  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Pechin,  and  John  Hutchins, 
esq.  Sheriff. 

Early  in  1813  the  bay  was  entered  by  part  of? 


204  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1813. 

British  squadron  under  the  command  of  Admiral  War- 
ren, and  few  vessels  were  enabled  to  pass  to  or  from  sea 
afterwards.  It  was  not  thought  proper  to  wait  the  pre- 
parations which  might  be  made  by  government,  and  the 
Corporation  appointed  a committee  of  supply,  consist- 
ing of  Messrs.  Mosher,  Tiernan,  Payson,  J.  C.  White, 
J.  A.  Buchanan,  S.  Sterett,  and  Thorndick  Chase,  au- 
thorised to  expend  the  sum  of  20,000  dollars  in  means 
of  defence;  but  that  being  insufficient,  a meeting  of  the 
citizens  in  their  wards  and  precincts  is  called,  and  forty 
gentlemen  selected,  who  advise  a loan  not  exceeding 
500,000  dollars,  with  an  addition  to  the  committee  of 
supply,  and  Messrs.  J.  E.  Howard,  E.  Warner,  J.  Kelso? 
Gilmor,  Deshon,  Patterson  and  Burke  are  appointed. — 
To  many  readers  perhaps,  it  will  appear  obvious  that 
the  creation  of  such  an  extra  body  might  be  indis- 
pensable in  the  disorganized  state  of  the  country  during 
the  former  war,  but  at  this  time  betrayed  a defect  in 
the  charter  of  the  city  which  cases  of  less  interest  had 
already  evinced. 

On  the  27th  April,  1813,  General  Pike  took  York 
on  Lake  Ontario,  but  lost  his  life,  as  did  Lieutenant 
Nicholson,  and  Captain  Moore  was  wounded  by  the  ex- 
plosion of  the  works  of  the  enemy.  On  the  5th  June, 
at  night,  Generals  Chandler  and  Winder  were  attacked 
at  Stony  Creek,  in  Canada,  and  after  beating  off  the 
enemy,  fell  amongst  them  and  were  taken  prisoners. — 
On  this  occasion  Messrs  Hindman,  Towson  and  Nicho- 
las, distinguished  themselves  and  were  promoted. 

Mr.  Fulton  having  successfully  applied  the  steam 
power  to  water  wheels,  and  had  boats  constructed  upon 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


205 


1813.] 

this  plan  for  passengers  upon  the  North  River,  Messrs. 
William  McDonald  and  Co.  owners  of  the  line  of  pack- 
ets to  French  Town,  on  Elk  River,  procure  the  Chesa- 
peake to  be  built  here  for  the  same  purpose,  by  Mr- 
Flanagan,  at  the  end  of  McElderry’s  wharf.  Mr* 
Charles  Gwinn  introduces  the  steam  power  lor  a flour 
mill  in  his  warehouse  at  the  end  of  Commerce  street 
wharf,  and  Mr.  Job  Smith,  in  a saw  mill  on  Chase’s 
wharf. 

Messrs.  Worthington,  Jessop,  Cheston  and  others, pro- 
cure the  water  rights  and  taking  up  the  waterof  Gwinns 
falls  above  four  miles  west  of  the  city,  convey  it  along 
the  East  side  to  within  about  two  miles  where  they  have 
a fall  of  eighty  feet  or  more,and  being  appropriated  to  five 
seats,  build  as  many  excellent  mills  within  a fe  w par- 
ches of  each  other,  which  they  call  the  Calverton  Mi  ls. 

At  the  session  of  May  1813,  the  Assembly  were  pe- 
titioned by  the  city  government,  to  assume  the  debts 
contracting  for  public  defence;  and  for  leave,  in  the 
mean  time,  to  levy  the  necessary  amount  on  the  city  and 
precincts,  both  which  the  Legislature  refused. 

Brigadier  General  Miller  encamped  a detachment  of 
2000  militia  to  aid  in  defending  the  city. 

By  the  general  assessment  directed  by  the  act  of  the 
last  session,  the  property  subject  to  county  and  city 
levies,  was  valued  as  follows: 

County  2,928,682 

Precincts  960,798 

City  3,325,818 


Total 


$7,215,328 


1813 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


206 


The  county  levy  that  year  upon  the  whole,  was  at 
the  rate  of  $1.03  per  cent,  and  the  city  tax  on  the 
$3,325,848  still  limited  at  75  cents  per  cent,  but  in 
1817,  the  limitation  was  removed  and  afterwards  the 
city  tax  was  levied  at  the  rate  of  $2  per  cent.  The 
valuation  of  the  same  property  made  at  current  rates^ 
in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  Congress,  was  $3  *,276,269 
and  upon  this  the  sum  to  be  levied  for  the  United  States 
was  $48,670. 

Hitherto  the  accounts  of  this  county  had  been  kept 
in  old  money,  and  the  sheriff  appointed  to  collect  the 
levy,  but  on  the  decease  of  Mr.  Sheriff  Hutchins,  the 
compiler  of  these  annals  was  appointed  collector,  and 
the  new  money  of  account  which  had  been  already  pre- 
scribed by  law,  was  introduced.  The  office  of  sheriff 
being  also  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Hutchins,  John 
Chalmers,  Esq.  who  had  been  on  the  return  at  the  pre- 
ceding election,  was  commissioned  by  the  Governor  and 
Council  to  supply  the  remainder  of  the  term. 

The  splendid  hall  erected  for  a medical  college  being 
prepared,  the  gentlemen  of  the  faculty  procure  the  in- 
stitution to  be  converted  into  an  University  by  act  of  as- 
sembly, passed  at  the  session  of  1812,  and  the  faculties 
of  divinity,  law  and  the  arts  and  sciences  are  annexed  to 
that  of  physic.  The  most  Rev.  Archbishop  Carroll  was 
elected  provost,  but  he  declined  the  office  and  Robert 
Smith,  Esq.  was  chosen;  not  long  after,  Mr.  Smith  re- 
signed, and  the  University  elected  its  present  provost, 
the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Kemp.  Doctor  William  Gib- 
son, who  had  then  lately  returned  from  Europe,  be. 
came  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  University  and  Doctor 


207 


1813]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 

Richard  W.  Hall,  who  had  divided  the  duties  of  the  ob- 
stetrick  chair  some  time,  was  elected  professor  of  that 
science.  In  the  mean  time,  that  is  on  the  13th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1813,  Doctor  Cocke  died,  and  soon  after  Doctor 
John  Owen  was  elected  professor  of  institutes;  but  he 
declined,  and  Doctor  Maxwell  McDowell  was  elected  in 
his  place ; the  Rev.  Doctor  Wyatt  is  elected  professor  of 
divinity;  David  Hoffman,  Esq.  professor  of  law;  Doctor 
William  Howard  then  lately  returned  from  Europe,  is 
elected  professor  of  natural  philosophy ; the  Rev.  John 
Allen,  lately  from  Harford,  professor  of  mathematics; 
the  Rev.  Archibald  W alker  professor  of  Humanity  and 
the  Rev.  Geo.  Ralph,  professor  of  polite  literature.  Doc- 
tor Gibson  removing  to  Philadelphia,  in  1820  Granville 
S Pattison,  Esq.  who  had  lately  arrived  from  Scotland, 
was  elected  professor  of  surgery.  To  the  University 
Hall  built  by  the  aid  of  several  lotteries,  has  since  been 
added  a Museum  and  Infirmary  where  the  attending 
physicians  are  assisted  by  sisters  of  charity,  and  the  stu- 
dents of  medicine  receive  clynical  lectures. 

Luther  Martin,  Esq.  is  appointed  chief  justice  of  the 
criminal  court  in  the  place  of  Judge  Scott,  deceased. 

Christopher  Hughes,  Junior,  Esq.  is  appointed  a se- 
cretary to  the  ministers  sent  to  negotiate  with  Great 
Britain.  A Bible  Society  is  formed  and  chartered, 
James  McHenry,  Esq.  being  President,  Alexander 
Fridge,  Esq  Treasurer,  the  Rev.  Doctors  Kurtz  and 
Inglis,  Corresponding  Secretaries,  and  the  Rev.  Alexan- 
der McCain  Recording  Secretary.  In  1821,  another 
Bible  Society  is  formed,  as  an  auxiliary  of  The  ilmei'i- 
can  Bible  Society , of  which  auxiliary  society,  Robert 


208 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE 


[1813 

Smith,  Esq.  is  chosen  President,  Mr.  Roswell  L Colt? 
Treasuier,  Mr.  T.  Parker,  Corresponding  Secretary, 
and  Mr.  Charles  G.  Robb,  Recording  Secretary. — 
There  had  been  established  in  the  mean  ti  ne,  a Ladies 
and  Young  Men’s  Bible  Societies,  and  common  prayer 
book  and  tract  societies. 

Mr  Thomas  W arner  is  appointed  by  the  city  gov- 
ernment pursuant  to  authority  granted,  an  assayer  of 
manufactured  plate. 

Mr.  Rembrant  Peale,  having  some  years  before  ex- 
hibited the  skeleton  of  a mammouth  in  Baltimore,  fixed 
his  permanent  residence  here;  and,  purchasing  a small 
collection  of  natural  curiosities  of  Mr.  James  Savage, 
commenced  the  building  of  a museum  and  gallery  of  the 
fine  ants  in  Holliday  street. 

On  the  17th  November  1813,  departed  this  life,  aged 
87  years,  near  forty  of  which  he  had  been  the  pious  and 
respected  minister  of  the  German  Evangelical  Reform- 
ed Congregation,  the  Rev.  William  Octerbein.  Since 
the  death  of  Mr.  Otterbein  the  ministers  of  that  church 
have  been  successively  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Schaeffer, 
Hoffman  and  Snyder,  the  present  minister. 

, Ox  the  28th  February  1814,  a public  dinner  was 
given  to  General  Winder,  who  was  on  his  way  from 
Canada  to  the  seat  of  government,  to  obtain  terms  of  an 
exchange  for  himself  and  others,  about  which  the  Bri- 
tish had  made  particular  overtures. 

Admiral  Cockburn  came  into  the  bay  and  passed  to 
the  head  of  it,  intercepting  the  packets  and  coasters,  and 
landing  and  plundering  at  several  places* 


1815.]  ANNALS  OP  BALTIMORE.  £09 

Messrs.  Peter  Little,  William  Steuart,  W.  Lemmon, 
Stephen  Griffith,  William  Neilson,  Sheppard  C.  Leakin 
George  Keyser,  John  Buck,  Charles  Stansbury  and 
others,  take  commissions  in  the  army,  and  government 
build  here,  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Robert  T. 
Spence,  the  sloop  of  war  Erie,  which  is  commanded  by 
Captain  C.  S.Ridgely;  the  Ontario,  Captain  Jesse  D. 
Elliott,  and  the  frigate  Java  by  Commodore  Perry,  but 
they  did  not  get  to  sea  until  after  the  peace. 

In  1813  Commodore  Barney  is  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  a flotilla,  and  is  joi  ned  here  by  Messrs  Solomon 
Rutter,  R.  M.  Hamilton,  T.  Dukehart  and  others,  being 
fitted  early  in  the  spring  following  proceeded  down  the 
bay  to  meet  the  enemy.  . . 

On  the  16th  May,  was  laid  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Maryland  in  presence  of  Levin  Winder,  Esq.  Governor 
and  R.  W.  G.  Master,  the  corner  stone  of  the  Masonic 
Hall  in  St  Paul’s  Lane,  of  which  Max.  Godefroy,  Esq. 
was  architect,  and  Colonel  Jacob  Small  and  Colonel 
William  Steuart,  builders. 

On  the  5th  and  25th  of  July  1814,  were  fought  the 
sanguinary  battles  of  Chippewa  and  Bridgewater,  in 
which  Cols.Hindman  and  Towson  of  the  Artillery,  con- 
tributed essentially  to  the  success  of  the  American  arms, 
and  afterwards  to  defend  Fort  Erie,  whilst  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Americans,  and  long  besieged. 

General  Winder  being  exchanged,  was  appointed  by 
the  President  Commanding  Officer  of  this  district,  and 
made  every  preparation  which  depended  on  him,  to  de- 
fend his  native  State;  orders  were  given  the  militia  to 
hold  themselves  in  readiness*  but  few  wrere  in  the  field. 

27 


310 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1814 

On  the  22 d of  August  it  was  ascertained  that  the  Bri- 
tish Fleet  under  Admiral  Cochrane,  entered  the  bay,, 
and  it  was  suspected  that  the  army  under  General  Ross, 
intended  to  attack  the  seat  of  government;  General 
Stansbury  of  the  1 1th  Brigade  of  county  militia,  march- 
ed a detachment  towards  Washington,  including  the  5th 
Regiment  of  Baltimore  Volunteers  under  Col.  Joseph 
Sterett;  a Battalion  of  Riflemen  under  major  William 
Pinkney,  and  two  companies  of  Artillery  under  Capts. 
Myers  and  Magruder. 

The  American  troops  under  Gen.  Winder,  being  over- 
powered by  the  enemy  at  Bladensburgh  on  the  24th,  the 
latter  take  and  burn  the  Capitol  and  return  to  their  ship* 
ping  in  Patuxent,  while  the  detachment  return  to  Bal’ 
timore,  with  the  loss  of  some  men.  Capt.  Miller  of  the 
Marine  corps  wa  killed,  Commodore  Barney,  Major 
Pinkney,  Capts.  S.  Sterett,  W.  Cooke,  Jas.  W.  M’Cul. 
loh,  W.  H.  Murray,  Charles  Earnest,  and  some  others 
being  wounded.  The  Commodore  was  taken  to  Bla_ 
densburg,  but  the  place  with  all  the  wounded  put  under 
his  charge,  being  parolled  on  the  enemy’s  retiring. 

Expecting  an  attack  here,  major  gen.  Douglass,  com- 
manding detachments  of  Virginia  militia  and  volunteers 
with  Com.  Rogers,  Com.  Perry,  Capt.  Spence  of  the  Na- 
vy, and  a few  dragoons,  regulars  and  seamen  under  Gen- 
Winder,  a company  of  volunteers  each  from  Hagers- 
town under  captain  Quantril;  from  York,  under  captain 
Spangler;  Hanover, captain Metzgar; Lancaster, C.  Ham- 
ilton. 

The  corporation  is  aided  by  a committee  of  Vigilance 
and  defence  of  50  citizens;  light  intrenchments  are 


1814 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


211 


thrown  up  on  the  N.  E.  side  of  the  town,  with  some  bat. 
teries,  and  a redoubt  on  the  South,  and  several  large 
vessels  are  sunk  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbour  opposite 
the  fort.  Much  valuable  property  is  removed  to  the 
country  for  safety,  with  many  of  the  families  of  the  citi  - 
zens  and  the  Banks  suspended  specie  payments.  On  the 
1 1 th  September,  the  British  squadron  under  Admiral 
Cochrane  appeal’  off  North  Point,  and  the  brigade  of  mi- 
litia commanded  by  Gen.  Strieker,  leave  town  to  meet 
their  troops,  which  they  do  next  day,  near  Bear  Creek. 
Here  a battle  is  fought,  in  which  the  enemy  lose  their 
General,  and  the  Americans  Adjutant  Donaldson,  of  the 
27th  Regt.  and  Lieut.  Andre  and  some  other  valuable 
citizens.  Major  Samuel  Moore,  Messrs.  Cheston,  A. 
and  N.  Williams,  Jas.  Gibson  and  Jas.  H.  M’Culloctq 
Esq.  collector  of  the  port,  acting  as  a volunteer,  and 
some  others,  wounded ; Thomas  Bailey,  Esq.  one  of  the 
justices  of  the  peace,  Mr.  W.  Buchanan,  of  James,  and 
a few  others,  being  made  prisoners.  The  3d  brigade 
are  followed  to  within  a mile  and  a half  of  the  lines  by 
the  enemy’s  troops,  who  there  await  the  issue  of  a bom* 
bardment  of  Fort  M’Henry  from  their  shipping.  Major 
Armsteads  little  garris  >n,  of  Capt.  Evan’s  company  of 
Artillery,  was  increased  by  two  companies  of  sea  fenci- 
bles  under  Capts.B  unbury  and  Addison;  a detachment  of 
the  flotilia,  under  Lieut.  Redman ; three  companies  of 
Volunteer  Artillery,  under  Capts.  Berry  and  Nicholson 
and  Lieut.  Pennington,  and  about  600  regulars  under 
Lt.  Col.  Steuart  and  major  Lane,  in  all  about  1000  men; 
there  were  also  two  batteries  on  the  main  branch  of 
the  river  above  the  fort,  defended  by  a small  detach 


012  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [181  4 

ment  of  the  flotilla  and  seamen,  commanded  by  Lieuts. 
Newcomb  and  Webster.  Shells  were  discharged  during 
24  hours,  and  the  city  lost  Lieut.  Claggett,  Sergeant 
Clemm,  and  Lieut.  Russell  and  several  privates  were 
wounded,  not  being  able  from  the  fort  to  reach  the  ene- 
mys  ships.  However,  the  latter  find  the  fort  impassable 
and  return  down  the  river,  where  the  land  forces  are  rc- 
embarked  on  the  1 4th  of  the  same  month.  Major  Arm- 
strong was  bre vetted  Lieut.  Colonel.  General  Scott  of 
the  United  States  army,  take  command  of  the  militia 
here,  and  General  Smith  resigns,  upon  which  R.  G- 
Harper,  Esq.  who  had  settled  in  Baltimore  and  held  a 
commission  in  the  volunteer  Artillery  of  the  town  for 
several  years,  is  appointed  major  general  of  the  3d  di- 
vision; soon  after  General  Strieker  resigns  and  col.  Jos. 
Sterett  is  appointed  Brig.  General  of  the  3d  Brigade. 

William  Pinkney,  Esq.  is  elected  to  Congress  in  place 
of  Mr.  M’Kim.  Cornelius  Howard, Esq.  is  appointed  one 
of  the  justices  of  the  orphans  court.  Thos.  Kell,  Esq. 
was  elected  a delegate  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Donaldson. 

On  the  8tli  March,  departed  this  life  at  his  residence 
in  the  county,  aged  63  years,  William  Maccreery,  Esq. 
and  in  town  on  the  27th,  aged  85  years,  William  Smith, 
Esq.  both  formerly  members  of  the  Senate  of  Maryland 
and  of  Cpngress. 

The  12th  of  January  1815  was  setapartby  the  Presi- 
dent, as  a day  of  tasting,  humiliation  and  prayer. 

On  the  18th  of  February  following,  the  President  rat- 
ified the  treaty  of  peace.  The  news  of  peace,  with  the  re- 
pulse of  the  British  at  New  Orleans,  was  received  here 


218 


1815]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 

with  every  demonstration  of  joy ; the  houses  being  all  il- 
luminated on  the  evening  of  the  1 5th  of  that  month,  and 
the  1 3th  of  April  was  appointed  by  the  general  Govern- 
ment, a day  of  thanksgiving  for  the  restoration  of  peace : 

On  the  12th  of  September  1815,  the  foundation  stone 
of  the  Baltimore  Monument,  erected  to  the  memory  of 
those  who  fell  in  defence  of  the  city  the  year  before,  was 
laid  in  the  presence  of  J.  A.  Buchanan,  S.  Hollings- 
worth, R.  Frisby,  Joseph  Jamison  and  Henry  Payson, 
Esq.  part  of  the  committee  of  vigilance,  the  militia,  &c. 
The  money  was  raised  by  a general  and  voluntary  sub- 
scription, and  the  Monument  which  was  designed  by 
M.  Godfroy,  Esq.  executed  by  Messrs.  Baughman  and 
Hoare,  the  figure  and  griffons  by  Mr.  Capeleno,  stands 
on  the  site  of  the  old  court  house,  now  called  Washing- 
ton Square. 

After  the  funds  of  the  city  treasury  had  been  exhaus- 
ted, individuals  advanced  large  sums  for  the  public  de- 
fence, but  the  banks  were  called  upon  by  the  committee, 
and  loans  were  made  which  enabled  them  to  expend 
$79,000  on  public  account;  and  this,  when  assumed  by 
the  city,  became  the  nucleus  of  the  present  debt.  It 
was  augmented  by  the  purchase  of  the  spring  property 
$37,000 ; dock  property  60,000 ; lands  for  powder  house, 
house  of  industy,  &c.  $19,000;  opening  of  streets,  &c 
and  improvements  on  property  increased  the  debt  to 
about  $380,000  in  1818,  The  city  accounts,  expendi- 
tures and  receipts  of  the  next  year,  1819,  may  be  thus 
stated  in  round  numbers.  The  interest  of  the  debt, 
$22,000;  expenses  of  the  poor,  25,000;  of  the  main- 
tenance of  prisoners  in  jail  and  criminal  jurisprudence 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


1815 


214 

$15,000;  deepening  harbor,  20,000;  light  and  watch 
$20,000;  cleaning  streets  1 0,000 ; journal  of  accounts 
$3000;  fire  companies  $4,000,  salaries  of  city  officers 
and  other  city  charges,  29,000;  altogether  $150,000  per. 
annum.  This  sum  is  raised  from  the  following  sour- 
ces. Ordinaries  6,000,  auctions  17,000,  licenses  17,000 
wharfage  and  tonnage  8,000,  markets  7,000,  other  rents 
&c.  5,000,  direct  taxes  90,000 ; total  $ i 50,000.  The 
gross  revenue  and  expenses  increase  with  the  population. 

The  want  of  general  employment  for  the  labouring 
class  during  the  war,  and  the  limited  extent  of  the  Alms 
house  relief,  induced  a number  of  humane  and  public 
spirited  persons,  to  subscribe  funds  towards  establish- 
ing a house  of  industry,  and  pursuant  to  an  act  of  the 
last  session,  the  corporation  authorises  a lottery  for  the 
same  object  in  1815.  The  money  received  has  been 
employed  in  the  purchase  of  the  old  alms  house  and  part 
of  the  grounds;  but,  the  want  of  additional  funds, and  the 
provision  made  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  since,  have  pre- 
vented the  intended  establishment  from  being  carried  into 
operation. 

Attempts  had  been  made  to  regulate  the  meetings  for 
business  of  the  merchants,  twenty  two  years  before,  and 
the  buildings  at  the  S.  W.  corner  of  Water  and  Com- 
merce streets  were,  for  some  time  occupied  as  an  Ex- 
change; but  in  1815  a more  decisive  plan  of  effecting 
this  object  was  undertaken  by  Messrs.  William  Patter- 
son, Robert  G.  Harper,  Dennis  A.  Smith,  John  Oliver, 
Thomas  Tennant,  Robert  Smith,  Henry  Payson,  Isaac 
M’Kim,  Henry  Thompson,  and  others,  who  purchase 
the  grounds  fronting  on  Gay  Street  from  Water  to  Se- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


£15 


1815.] 

cond  Streets,  and  begin  building  in  solid  brick  work 
and  rough  cast,  according  to  a design  of  Benjamin  H. 
Latrobe,  Esp.  Col  Jacob  Small  carpenter,  Col.  Wm. 
Steuart  stone  cutter  and  Mr.  T.  Henning  bricklayer, 
were  the  builders.  A part  of  the  grounds  being  the  N. 
W.  corner  of  Gay  and  Water  Streets,  was  purchased, 
finished  and  occupied  by  the  Uuited  States,  as  a custom 
house  and  the  opposite  corner  onGay  and  Second  streets 
has  been  in  like  manner  taken  by  the  Bank  of  the  Uni- 
ted states,  the  whole  east  front  being  250  feet.  The  ex- 
change itself  in  the  centre,  occupying  a space,  vaulted 
beneath  and  fire  proof,  of  141  by  110  feet,  with  the  bu- 
siness room,  86  by  53,  and  115  feet  high,  to  the  top  of 
the  dome  53  feet  diameter,  has  been  occupied  from  the 
1st  of  March  1820.  The  company  was  incorporated 
from  its  origin,  and  a chamber  of  commerce  was  agreed 
upon,  and  organized  in  1821,  Robert  Gilmor,  Esq.  Pre- 
sident, William  Cooke,  Esq.  Secretary. 

On  the  7th  of  January  a public  dinner  was  given  to 
Colonels  Mitchell  and  Towson.  After  the  war,  dinners 
were  given  to  Commodore  Decatur,  Gen.  Harrison  and 
Gen.  Jackson,  as  they  severally  visited  or  passed 
through  Baltimore.  The  gross  revenue  accruing  from 
the  customs  here,  amounted  to  $4,200,500,  including 
$28,162  from  the  tonnage,  of  which  the  quantity  of  the 
district  was  107,137  tons,  and  from  the  post  office  there 
accrued  the  sum  of  54,835  dollars  * amounts  which  were 
not  equalled  before  nor  since. 

Col.  William  Steuart  and  Christ.  Hughes,  jr.  Esqs. 
are  elected  delegates  and  Matthew  Murray, Esq.  Sheriff. 
General  Harper  is  chosen  a Senator  of  the  United  States, 


£16 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE 


[1815 

but  resigns  the  next  year,  and  is  succeeded  by  Alexan- 
der C.  Hanson,  Esq.  During  the  last  year  of  the  war, 
there  had  been  taken  out  of  the  county  Clerks  office, 
50 5 marriage  licenses,  but  in  the  first  year  of  the  peace 
the  number  was  828. 

On  the  3d  of  December  1815,  departed  this  life,  in  the 
80th  year  of  his  age,  the  most  Revd.  Dr.  John  Carroll, 
who  had  been  25  years  Bishop  and  Arch  Bishop  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  church;  to  whom,  to  the  late  Revd. Dr. 
Patrick  Allison,  who  had  been  the  founder  and  minister 
of  the  first  Presbyterian  congregation  about  40  years, 
and  to  the  late  Revd.  Dr.  Joseph  G J.  Bend,  rector  of 
St.  Pauls  church  above  20  years,  the  city  of  Baltimore 
was  indebted  for  the  establishment  of  many  institutions 
of  piety  and  learning,  which,  under  providence,  created 
some  of  those  sentiments  of  union  and  harmony,  and 
acts  of  patriotism  and  benevolence  on  the  part  of  the  ci- 
tizens, which  are  recorded  in  these  annals,  and  which 
have  been  to  many  of  us,  subjects  of  exultation  in  times 
of  prosperity  as  well  as  consolations  in  times  of  afflic- 
tion. 

Ox  the  31st  of  March  1816,  departed  this  life  near 
Fredericksburg,  aged  72  years,  the  Rev.  Francis  Asbu- 
ry,  who  had  been  ordained  a Bishop  in  this  city  thirty 
one  years  before,  and  had  travelled  in  England  and 
America  above  fifty  years,  as  an  itinerant  preacher  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

At  the  conference  held  here  the  same  year,  the  Rev. 
Enoch  George  and  Robert  R Roberts  were  ordained 
Bishops  of  the  same  church.  The  society  organised  a 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


2l1 


1816.] 

respectable  seminary  of  learning  by  the  name  of  “As- 
bury  College,”  and  Doctor  Samuel  K Jennings  is  cho- 
sen principal.  After  two  or  three  years  the  college 
was  discontinued  for  want  of  adequate  funds,  but  in 
1818,  the  society  erect  their  spacious  church  on  Caro- 
line street,  for  the  accommodation  of  their  members  on 
the  east  side  of  the  town . 

In  1816  Messrs.  Rembrandt  Peale,  William  Lorman, 
James  Mosher,  Robert  C.  Long  and  William  Gwynn 
form  a company  for  which  they  procure  a charter,  to 
furnish  the  city  and  individuals  with  Gas  light,  and  erect 
their  works  on  the  south  west  corner  of  North  and  Sar- 
atoga streets.  Soon  after,  Messrs.  Richard  Caton, 
Benjamin  and  James  Ellicott,  Levy  Hollingsworth  and 
others  obtain  licenses  from  several  proprietors,  and  em- 
ploy John  Leadbetter  to  bore  for  coal  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, without  success. 

Subscriptions  to  the  new  Bank  of  the  United  States 
are  opened  for  a capital  of  twenty- eight  millions,  and 
4,014,100  dollars  are  subscribed  here,  in  the  name  of 
15,610  persons,  principals  and  proxies.  A branch  is 
opened  early  in  the  next  year,  of  which  James  A.  Bu- 
chanan, Esq.  is  appointed  by  the  parent  board,  Presi- 
dent, and  James  W.  McCulloch,  Esq.  Cashier, and  then 
the  banks  generally,  resume  specie  payments,  which  had 
been  suspended  in  1814. 

At  the  session  of  1816,  the  limits  of  the  city,  are  ex- 
tended by  an  act  entitled  u An  act  to  enlarge  the  bounds 
of  Baltimore  city,”  including  the  old  precincts.  Those 
limits  form  a parallelogram  of  about  three  and  a half 

28 


218 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1816 

miles  from  North  to  South,  and  four  and  a half  from 
East  to  West,  and  contains  in  land  and  water,  about 
10,000  acres  surface,  all  included  within  the  twelve 
wards  of  the  city. 

In  order  to  prevent  future  inconvenience  from  irregu- 
lar locations  and  the  expense  which  might  arise  from 
changes  necessarily  made  in  streets,  &lc.  thereafter, 
commissioners  are  authorised  by  another  act,  to  survey 
and  lay  off  streets,  lanes  and  alleys  on  the  grounds 
added  to  the  city,  viz:  Messrs  John  E.  Howard,  Wil- 
liam Patterson,  William  Gibson,  William  Lorman, 
Solomon  Etting,  George  Warner,  Owen  Dorsey,  Geo. 
W inchester,  James  Mosher,  W.  McMechen,  John  Hil- 
len,  Joseph  Townsend  and  Henry  Thompson,  most  of 
whom  accepted,  and  w ith  other  gentlemen,  substituted 
to  fill  vacancies,  commenced  the  locations  according- 

iy- 

Provision  was  made  for  determining  what  improved 
parts  of  the  late  addition  to  the  tow  n should  be  subject 
to  the  payment  of  direct  taxes,  for  the  ordinary  expen- 
ses of  the  city  government  and  police;  for  which  pur- 
pose Robert  Lyon, Christopher  Carnan  and  Isaac  Dixon, 
Esqs.  residents  of  the  countv,  are  appointed  commis^ 
sioners;  and,  the  corporation  w as  deprived  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  inspectors  of  fire  wood. 

By  the  creation  of  a new  criminal  court,  the  busi- 
ness of  the  county  of  that  description  is  again  separated 
from  that  of  the  city  and  restored  to  the  county  court. — 
This  new  court,  called  “The  Baltimore  City  Court,’’ 
of  which  one  Judge  sits  daily,  is  properly  a right  police 
court,  and  preferable  to  common  Mayors’  courts  on 


1816 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


219 


several  accounts;  particularly,  in  that  the  office  is  of  a 
more  certain  tenure;  the  judges  are  all  law  characters, 
not  encumbered  by  civil  proceedings  and  have  jurisdic- 
tion in  capital  cases  as  well  as  those  of  less  magnitude. 
Nicholas  Brice,  Esq.  is  appointed  Chief  Judge  with  a 
fixed  salary  paid  by  the  state,  and  William  McMechen 
and  Alexander  Nisbet,  Esqs.  associate  judges,  paid  also 
in  fixed  but  lesser  sums,  out  of  the  city  treasury.  The 
city  court  appoints  constables  and  the  Mayor  is  still  au- 
thorised to  appoint  a certain  number  of  bailiffs,  with  the 
power  of  constables. 

To  relieve  the  county  court  from  the  pressure  of  in- 
solvent business,  three  gentlemen  of  the  bar,  viz.  Jona- 
than Meredith,  Thomas  Kell  and  D.  Hoffman,  Esqs. 
are  appointed  commissioners  during  pleasure,  with  fees 
of  office,  to  examine  applicants  and  grant  provisional 
relief;  which  board  is  continued  still,  with  other  com- 
missioners. Messrs.  John  B Howard,  Thomas  Hil- 
len,  Thomas  Talbot,  Thomas  Johnson,  Henry  Ebaugh, 
Abraham  Cole,  Peter  Little,  Samuel  O wings  and  Geo. 
Everhart,  are  appointed  to  employ  that  part  of  the 
funds  arising  from  a tax  on  banks  for  free  schools, 
which  appertain  to  Baltimore  county. 

The  arrivals  here  from  sea  this  year  were  67  foreign 
and  436  American  vessels,  but  the  amount  of  tonnage 
registered  and  licensed  was  104,960  tons. 

Captain  George  Stiles  is  elected  Mayor  of  the  city. — ■ 
John  S.  Skinner,  Esq.  is  appointed  Post  Master,  and 
the  -payments  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States 
from  this  office  in  gross  amounted  to  5 1,410  dollars. 


220  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  1816 

General  Smith  is  elected  to  Congress  in  the  place  of 
Colonel  Moore 

William  Pinkney,  esq.  is  appointed  minister  to  Na- 
ples and  Russia,  and  Colonel  P.  Little  is  elected  to 
Congress  in  his  place.  Edward  Johnson,  Esq.  is  again 
chosen  an  elector  of  President,  and  Joseph  H.  Nichol- 
son, Esq.  elector  of  Senate.  Colonel  Howard  and 
George  Winchester,  Esq.  are  elected  members  of  the 
Senate  of  Maryland.  The  Colonel  declined,  and  Gen- 
eral William  H Winder  is  chosen;  in  1819,  General 
Harper  is  chosen  in  place  of  General  Winder  resigned, 
and  J.  E.  Howard,  Junior  Esq.  in  place  of  Mr.  Win- 
chester resigned;  and  on  his  resignation  in  1820,  Rich- 
ard Carroll,  Esq.  is  chosen.  James  Carroll,  Jr.  esq. 
is  appointed  a Judge  of  the  Orphans  Court,  C.  Hughes, 
Junior,  esq.  is  appointed  Secretary  of  Legation  aCnd  be- 
comes Charge  des  Affaires  at  Stockholm,  and  Thomas 
Kell,  esq.  is  elected  to  the  assembly  in  his  place. 

On  the  16th  of  May,  departed  this  life,  James  Mc- 
Henry, esq.  one  of  the  framers  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  a Secretary  to  General  Washington  in 
the  war  of  Independence  and  of  the  Department  of  war 
in  1798.  On  the  14th  of  August,  at  an  advanced  age? 
James  Calhoun,  esq.  first  Mayor  of  Baltimore,  and 
many  years  one  of  the  justices  of  the  county;  and  on  the 
7th  of  October,  at  his  residence  in  the  county,  Colonel 
N.  R.  Moore,  commandant  of  Cavalry  and  late  member 
of  Congress. 

On  the  11th  of  March  1817,  the  new  Cathedral 
Church  erected  by  the  Episcopalians,  called  St.  Pauls^ 


1817]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  22 1 

being  within  the  church  100  by  75  feet,  having  a hand- 
some steeple  over  the  vestibule,  was  consecrated  by 
the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Kemp;  of  this  church  Mr.  R.  0. 
Long  was  architect,  and  with  Mr.  J.  Wilson,  Plasterer, 
Mr.  Thomas  Towson,  stone  cutter  and  Mr.  Elijah 
Hutton,  brick  layer,  was  builder.  The  figures  in  re- 
lief of  Christ  and  Moses,  which  ornament  the  pedes- 
tals were  executed  by  Mr,  Capellano;  the  organ  w7as 
made  by  M.  Hall  of  Philadelphia.  The  new  church 
thus  prepared,  the  belfry  first  erected,  with  the  church 
built  in  1799,  were  taken  down,  and  the  lots  sold, 
the  remains  of  the  dead  being  previously  removed 
to  the  burial  ground  on  German  street. 

Several  gentlemen  associated  themselves  under  the 
name  of  “the  Improving  Company,”  to  facilitate  the 
opening  of  streets,  by  purchasing  at  their  own  risk,  the 
property  most  likely  to  be  injured.  It  can  be  said 
with  truth,  that,  at  this  period  at  least,  there  were  not 
purchasers  to  be  found  in  Baltimore  for  property  con- 
demned by  any  public  act,  unless  a benefit  equally  gen- 
eral, was  expected  from  the  sale.  Nobody,  for  instance 
would  buy  the  property  of  the  absentee  or  the  minor 
put  up  at  auction  for  some  trifling  tax,  however  tempt- 
ing the  prospect  of  individual  gain  might  be  to  the  pur- 
chaser. 

Some  steps  were  taken  towards  the  formation  of  an 
Importing  Company,  to  supply  our  own  and  the  neigh- 
bouring retail  merchants,  and  counteract  the  injurious 
effect  of  foreign  capital  employed  in  introducing  goods 
into  other  places,  but  was  not  prosecuted  to  effect. 

On  the  first  of  June,  1817,  President  Monroe  arriv- 


222 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[mi 

ed  in  town  and  visited  Fort  McHenry  and  the  scene  of 
the  battle  of  the  12th  ot  September.  He  was  addressed 
by  the  corporation  and  returning  a polite  answer,  de- 
clined an  invitation  to  a public  dinner. 

The  different  Marine  Insurance  Companies  deter- 
mined to  have  the  shoals  of  the  river  sounded,  and 
buoys  fixed  to  be  a guide  to  the  shipping, which  was  un- 
dertaken by  captain  Lewis  Brantz,  and  the  corporation' 
caused  the  soundings  to  be  carried  throughout  the  har- 
bour. But  the  general  government  afterwards  assumed 
the  charge  of  the  buoys,  and  in  1820,  erected  a Light 
Tower  at  the  Bodkin  and  another  at  North  Point, 
which  are  elevated  between  thirty  and  forty  feet 
each. 

At  this  period,  Sunday  Schools  are  organized  by 
the  religious  societies  generally,  and  the  members  of 
the  Catholic  Church  establish  a free  school  for  both 
sexes,  which  was  forthwith  incorporated.  Mr.  John 
McKim,  deceased  this  year,  had  requested  his  heirs  to 
appropriate  six  hundred  dollars  ground  rents  per  an- 
num for  the  support  of  a free  school,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Friends  Society  worshipping  in  Baltimore 
street,  which  they  did  accordingly  and  it  was  opened  in 
1822,  pursuant  to  an  act  of  assembly;  and  by  the  will 
of  Mr.  John  Oliver,  deceased  in  1828,  the  interest  of 
$20,000  was  appropriated  by  him  for  the  education 
of  poor  boys,  under  the  direction  of  the  Hibernian  So- 
ciety, of  which  he  had  been  President  some  years,  and 
the  same  was  opened  pursuant  to  an  act  of  assembly 
the  year  after.  At  the  same  time,  that  is  in  1823,  the 
trustees  of  the  Orplialine  Charity  School,  aided  by  libe- 


]817.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  22 3 

ral  donations  from  several  individuals,  purchase  of  the 
trustees  of  the  Baltimore  College  a part  of  their  grounds 
on  Mulberry  street,  and  erect  a spacious  school  house. 

Messrs.  Henry  Payson,  Amos  A.  Williams,  Isaac 
Phillips,  Charles  H.  Appleton  and  others,  form  a socie- 
ty and  erect  a church  at  the  North  West  corner  of 
Charles  and  Franklin  streets;  of  which  Mr.  M.  God- 
froy  was  architect,  Messrs.  John  Ready,  Baughman 
and  Hoare  builders,  and  wrhich  they  call  “the  First  In- 
dependent Church,”  of  wdiich  the  Rev.  Jar ard  Sparks  is 
chosen  minister. 

The  society  of  the  First  Baptists  erect  their  commo- 
dious circular  church  in  Sharpe  street.  Mr.  Robert 
Mills,  architect,  Messrs.  Milleman,  Booth,  Diffendall, 
Rickey  and  Stubbins,  builders.  Like  too  many  of  our 
best  public  edifices,  this  church,  which  is  eighty  feet  in 
diameter  and  rough  cast,  is  placed  at  the  intersection  of 
two  streets,  but  the  ground  is  elevated,  and  in  other  re- 
spects, very  eligible.  The  Rev.  Edmond  Reis  w ho  had 
been  assistant  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richards  some  time, 
becomes  minister;  but  is  succeeded  in  1822,  by  the 
Rev.  John  E.  Finley,  and  part  of  the  congregation  at- 
tached to  Mr.  Reis,  erect  the  church  on  North  Calvert 
street.  On  the  removal  to  Sharpe  street  the  church  and 
grounds  on  Pitt  street  are  sold,  and  the  remains  of  the 
interred  there  removed  to  the  cemetary  south  west  of 
the  city;  but  soon  after,  the  old  church  is  let  to  a third 
Baptist  congregation,  the  Rev.  James  Osborne  offieiat- 
img  there. 

A society  is  formed  in  aid  of  The  Colonisation 
Society,  which  wras  established  at  Washington,  to 


224  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE  [1817 

procure  the  voluntary  transportation  of  free  blacks  to 
the  coast  of  Africa.  Colonel  Howard,  who  was  a 
Vice  President  of  the  parent  society,  is  chosen  Presi- 
dent of  this;  Luke  Tiernan,  Esquire,  Treasurer,  and 
Edward  J.  Coale,  Esquire,  Secretary.  The  society 
have  succeeded  in  inducing  a number  of  the  best  dis- 
posed people  of  colour  of  this  city,  to  accept  their  pas- 
sages ; and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  persons  of  different 
characters  may  acquire  from  the  absence  of  others 
and  diminution  of  numbers,  qualifications  which  will 
render  them  fit  subjects  for  the  future  settlements  in 
that  quarter  of  the  world. 

The  duties  of  the  Justices  of  the  Levy  Court  had 
so  much  increased,  that  it  wras  thought  adviseable  to 
restore  the  administration  of  the  public  alms  of  the 
city  and  county  to  a new  board  of  Trustees,  with  dis- 
cretionary power  as  to  the  out  pensioners  and  general 
expenditures,  which  had  not  been  the  case  formerly; 
and,  provision  being  made  by  law,  Messrs.  James  Elli- 
cott,  Robert  N.  Moale,  Richard  Waters,  Isaac  McPher- 
son and  the  writer  hereof,  wrere  appointed  trustees  for 
the  ensuing  year  by  the  Executive  of  the  State. 

The  corporation  is  deprived  of  the  appointment  of 
Inspectors  of  salted  Fish;  but,  in  182L  to  prevent  the 
dangerous  accumulation  of  unsound  fish  within  the 
city,  the  council  determine  to  erect  a house  for  depo  it 
and  inspection  on  the  south  side  of  the  harbour,  to 
which  all  fish  must  be  carried  during  the  summer 
months;  they  also  provide  for  the  inspection  of  Ginseng 
and  appoint  an  inspector  thereof,  agreeable  to  the  gen- 
eral powers  of  the  charter. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


225 


1817.] 

Charles  W.  Hanson,  Esquire,  is  appointed  an  asso- 
ciate judge  of  the  county  court  of  this  district,  in  the 
place  of  judge  Hollingsworth,  removed;  soon  after, 
Walter  Dorsey,  Esquire,  is  appointed  chief  judge  in 
the  place  of  Judge  Nicholson,  deceased,  and  Judge 
Bland  being  appointed  one  of  the  Envoys  to  Buenos 
Ayres,  William  H.  Ward,  Esq.  is  made  associate  of  the 
court  in  his  place.  Luther  Martin,  Esq.  is  re-appoint- 
ed Attorney  General  with  Nathaniel  Williams,  Esq. 
assistant ; particular  attornies  being  appointed  to  prose- 
cute in  each  judicial  district,  Henry  M.  Murray,  Esq.  ap- 
pointed for  this  district,  and  Thomas  Kell,  Esq.  attor- 
ney in  the  Baltimore  city  court.  Henry  M.  Bracken- 
ridge,  Esq.  is  appointed  secretary  to  the  Mission  of  the 
United  States  to  Buenos  Ayres. 

Edward  G.  Woodyear,  Esq.  is  elected  a delegate  in 
the  place  of  Col.  Steuart. 

On  the  18th  of  June  departed  this  life,  at  George  town, 
aged  70  years,  the  most  Revd.  Leonard  Neale,  Arch 
Bishop  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  is  succeed- 
ed by  the  Rev.  Ambrose  Mareshall,  w ho  is  consecrated 
the  14th  December  of  the  following  year. 

An  evidence  of  the  great  health  enjoyed  here  at  this 
period  is  found  in  the  returns.  The  whole  number 
died  1817,  was  1323.  That  is  to  say,  746  males  and 
577  females;  of  whom  430  wrere  under  twelve  months 
old,  and  fifty  seven  are  stated  to  have  died  of  old  age, 
including  four  above  ninety,  and  two  above  100  years 
old;  of  the  whole  number,  390  were  coloured  persons. 

Jn  the  disproportion  between  the  mortality  of  the  dif- 

29  * 


226 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1816 

ferent  sexes  is  found  the  melancholy  result  of  habits 
of  life  in  the  one  to  which  the  other  sex  is  not  addicted. 

The  loading  of  tobacco  in  the  rivers  being  almost 
wholly  discontinued,  the  quantity  brought  to  Baltimore 
was  greatly  increased  and  a market  continually  open 
through  intermediary  dealers.  Messrs.  Amos  and 
George  Williams  obtained  a license  to  erect  an  inspec“ 
tion  house  on  O’Donnell’s  wharf;  the  next  year  the  pub- 
lic ware-house  at  the  Point  was  accidentally  burned 
down,  and  ir*  1820,  Mr.  Moses  Sheppard  had  another 
ware-house  licensed  for  him  on  Light  street  wharf* 
when  the  ware  houses  of  Messrs.  O’Donnell  and  Wil- 
liams were  united  under  one  inspection.  The  year  after* 
Messrs.  Samuel  R.  Smith  and  Christopher  Hughes  ob- 
tain licenses  to  erect  a w are-house  each,  on  or  near 
Light  street  wharf,  the  first  of  which  was  built  accord- 
ingly. and  two  years  after,  Mr.  William  Patterson  ob 
tained  another  license  for  a ware  house  on  his  wdiarf 
near  Commerce  street.  These  ware  houses  wrere  con- 
structed to  contain  about  5000  hogsheads  each  at  a 
time,  and  some  much  more.  The  charge  of  inspection 
was  one  dollar  per  hogshead,  including  the  first  year’s 
storage,  and  twelve  and  a half  cents  a year  afterwards; 
the  other  costs  were  one  dollar  and  twelve  and  a half 
cents  per  hogshead  But  the  succeeding  session,  1823, 
the  assembly  determined  to  hire  three  of  those  ware- 
houses, pay  the  inspectors  fixed  salaries  and  apply  the 
profits,  which  w^ere  considered  great,  to  the  use  of  the 
state  with  an  increase  of  twelve  an  a half  cents  cost? 
leaving  to  the  county  one  other  warehouse  for  its  own 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


1818] 


aaa 


growth  only , but  discontinuing  the  rest.  Under  this  act 
the  two  old  warehouses  of  Messrs.  Calhoun  & O’Don- 
nell and  Williams  were  selected  for  the  state,  and  that 
of  Mr.  D ugan  for  the  county. 

By  a statement  published,  the  quantity  of  Maryland 
tobacco  in  1818,  was  32, 234  hogsheads,  of  which  were 
shipped  from  this  port  13,377,  and  from  George  town, 
&c.  8715  hogsheads ; some  is  shipped  by  the  notes  from 
Patuxent,  &e.  and  as  much  of  that  sold  here,  both  for 
domestic  use  and  exportation,  is  re-inspected,  the  returns 
afford  imperfect  data,  but  the  stock  was  increasing  at 
that  period,  no  doubt;  11,565  hogsheads  were  cleared. 

On  the  night  of  the  11th  March,  1818,  the  eastern 
mail  was  robbed  a few  hours  after  it  left  the  city,  and 
Hare  and  Alexander  were  convicted  of  the  fact  in  the 
United  States  Court,  and  having  put  the  driver  in  jeo- 
pardy of  his  life,  were  hung  in  the*jail  yard, 

On  this  occasion,  the  mode  of  execution  from  a cart 
was  changed  here  from  a laudable  respect  to  humanity 
in  the  marshall,  to  a drop  or  scaffold,  with  a trap  door, 
and  so  continued.  Two  years  after,  the  same  crime 
was  committed  on  the  same  road,  aggravated  by  the  mur. 
der  of  the  carrier;  for  which  Hutton  and  Hull  were  .con 
victed  in  the  county  court,  and  suffered  a Jike  ignomeni- 
ous  death  soon  after;  and  in  1823,  the  mail  was  agaip 
robbed  on  the  same  road,  for  which  three  persons,  em- 
ployed in  the  neighborhood,  were  sentenced  by  the 
United  States  Court  to  confinement  for  several  years, 
which  may  or  may  not  be  a punishment  to  them,  ac 
cording  to  their  personal  habits  and  inclinations,  but  cer- 
tainly no  indemnity  to  an  injured  community;  who,  on 


228  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1818 

the  contrary,  must  provide  for  their  subsistence  and 
clothing  at  a considerable  expense . 

A number  of  gentlemen  in  each  county  were  incor- 
porated as  managers  of  agricultural  societies,  in  1807, 
but  those  of  Baltimore  never  met;  and  in  1818,  a soci- 
ety was  formed  here  for  that  object,  of  which  Robert 
Smith,  Esq.  was  chosen  president,  and  John  E.  How- 
ard, jr.  Esq  secretary.  The  society  held  regular  an- 
nual meetings,  and  have  established  exhibitions  of  agri- 
cultural products  and  improvements,  with  premiums. 
A board  of  twelve  trustees,  of  which  Charles  Ridgely, 
of  Hampton,  Esq.  is  president,  and  James  Howard,  Esq. 
secretary,  assemble  monthly  at  their  respective  farms, 
being  incorporated  in  1823. 

Richard  Caton.  Esq.  and  others,  had  commenced  the 
manufacture  of  copperas,  on  Magothy  river,  in  1812, 
and  afterwards,  of  alum,  forming  a society,  which  were 
incorporated  in  IS i 8.  In  the  mean  time,  that  is,  in 
1816,  Messrs.  Howard  Sims,  and  Isaac  Tyson,  Junr. 
erected  a laboratory  for  manufacturing  chemical  paints, 
and  medicine,  on  Pratt  street,  which  they  afterwards 
transferred  to  the  Washington  avenue,  and  were  incor- 
po  ate  l at  the  session  of  1823. 

In  order  to  induce  the  industrious  poor  to  save  for 
future  exigencies  a part  of  their  present  earnings,  by 
offering  to  them  a useful  employment  of  small  sums 
free  of  commission,  &,c.  Several  societies  had  been 
established  in  London,  and  elsewhere,  of  whose  consti- 
tutions the  compiler  of  these  annals  procured  copies; 
and  submitting  them  to  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Kemp, 
Messrs.  Payson,  Lonmin.  Ellicott,  Appleton,  and  others. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


229 


1818.] 

a society  is  formed  early  in  1818;  and  at  the  ensuing 
session,  incorporated  for  receiving  and  placing  at  inte- 
rest small  sums,  called  “the  Savings  Bank,”  conducted 
by  twenty  four  managers,  of  whom  Capt.' Daniel  How- 
land was  chosen  president.  Li  the  first  three  years? 
there  were  received,  from  a number  of  persons,  near 
$80,000. 

In  pursuance  of  the  act  of  1816,  extending  the  limits 
of  the  city,  the  old  precincts  were  divided  into  three 
additional  wards ; but  now  the  corporation  appoint  five 
commissioners  to  divide  the  whole  city  into  twelve 
wards,  which  was  done  as  nearly  equal  as  convenient, 
extending  every  ward  from  some  point  of  the  river, 
northwardly;  but  the  variation  in  the  settlement  of  dif- 
ferent districts  produces  a disproportion,  which  must 
necessarily  render  a new  division  necessary  from  time 
to  time. 

The  number  of  public  carriages  licensed,  and  in  use 
at  this  time,  was,  of  hackney-coaches,  100;  of  carts, 
350;  drays,  200;  and  of  scows,  or  lighters,  about  20. 

A society  was  formed  two  years  before,  to  distribute 
medical  relief  to  the  poor  on  the  east  side  of  the  city, 
is  now  incorporated  by  the  name  of  “the  Second  Dis- 
pensary.” The  seamen  had  been  some  time  received 
into  the  hospital,  by  contract,  with  the  lessees.  It  is 
stated,  that  the  number  admitted  this  year,  was  583, 
and  the  expense,  14,052  dollars;  after  which,  the  relief 
was  withdrawn  from  the  aged  and  incurable,  several  of 
whom  took  refuge  in  the  alms-house,  and  helped  to  in- 
crease the  number  there,  with  the  expense  of  that  insti- 


230 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1818 

tution,  of  which  Robert  Gilmor,  Esq.  is  appointed  one 
of  the  trustreos,  in  place  of  Mr.  McPherson. 

Henry  M.  Brackenridge,  Esq.  is  elected  to  the  As- 
sembly in  the  place  of  Mr.  Woodyear;  and  John  Ste- 
venson, Esq.  is  elected  Sheriff. 

On  the  25th  April,  departed  this  life,  Lieut.  Col. 
George  Armistead,  of  the  U.  S.  Artillery,  and  the  gal- 
lant defender  of  Fort  McHenry  in  1814,  where  he 
commanded  until  his  death. 

On  the  first  of  March,  1819,  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson 
reviewed  the  3d  and  14th  brigades,  and  accepted  and 
answered  an  address  of  congratulation  from  the  Mayor 
and  City  Council. 

The  winter  of  1818,  to  1819,  had  been  very  mode- 
rate, but  the  ensuing  summer  excessively  warm,  and  the 
yellow-fever,  of  which  the  city  had  been  almost  exempt 
for  eighteen  years,  made  its  appearance  on  the  eastern 
part  of  Fell’s  Point.  It  became  necessary  to  remove 
from  that  neighbourhood,  and  many  individuals  were 
provided  for  at  the  hospital  and  adjacent  rope-walks,  at 
the  expense  of  the  corporation,  aided  by  the  donations 
of  the  citizens;  including  the  sum  of  600  dollars,  pre- 
sented for  the  purpose  by  the  corporation  of  George- 
town, and  some  valuable  presents  from  the  inhabitants 
of  Taney  Town  and  Union  Town.  The  whole  num- 
ber of  deaths  for  this  year,  were  reported  to  be  2287, 
of  which,  350  of  malignant  fever,  157  of  other  fevers; 
272  of  consumption;  258  of  cholera  morbus;  77  of  old 
age,  including  in  the  whole,  571  coloured  persons. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


1819] 


231 


The  distresses  of  the  citizens  were  greatly  increased 
by  the  failure  of  the  City  Bank,  and  mismanagement  of 
the  office  of  the  U.  States,  and  some  other  banks,  ac- 
companied by  the  fall  in  the  price  of  flour  and  tobacco 
in  foreign  markets,  affecting  the  prices  of  all  kinds  of 
property  here. 

These  annals  afford  abundant  proof,  that  the  citizens 
had  not  overlooked  those  kinds  of  establishments  which 
produce  the  returns  of  capital  and  permanent  employ- 
ment, though  too  many,  no  doubt,  employed  their  capi- 
tals in  what  should  have  been  fruits  of  revenue.  The 
continental  system , which  left  the  most  of  Europe  with- 
out supplies  of  tobacco,  &c.  being  overturned  by  the 
general  peace,  confidence  was  extended  in  proportion 
to  the  demand  for  the  produce  which  succeeded;  and 
expenditures  were  gone  into  which  nothing  else  would 
excuse.  In  the  mean  time,  the  exactions  of  the  State 
wTere  not  relaxed.  The  Cumberland  road,  of  58  miles, 
costing  the  banks  near  half  a million  of  dollars,  pro- 
duced no  tolls,  while  the  20  cents  per  100  on  their 
capital,  amounting  to  about  $12,000  annually,  for  the 
schools,  were  still  collected,  even  after  that  of  the  Union 
and  Mechanics’  Banks  was  reduced. 

A society  was  organized  for  the  gratuitous  distribu- 
tion of  soup  to  the  necessitous,  and  soon  after,  another 
one  for  the  prevention  of  pauperism  generally;  but,  the 
removal  of  the  limitations  of  the  number  of  out  pension- 
ers of  the  alms-house,  which  had  been  at  thirty  onlv, 
for  both  city  and  county,  and  the  appointment  of  mana- 
gers of  the  poor  in  each  ward,  empowered,  as  well  as 
the  trustees,  to  send  proper  objects  to  the  alms-house. 


232  ANNALS  Of  BALTIMORE  [1819 

which  took  place  this  year,  appears  to  have  superseded 
the  use  of  private  charity  for  adults,  in  a great  measure, 
and  the  operations  of  those  societies  have  been  super- 
seded, as  well  as  public  collections  for  charity. 

It  was  at  the  same  period  that  the  expenses  of  the 
poor  of  the  city  and  county  were  separated,  and  the 
city  relieved  from  the  charges  of  the  county  roads  alto- 
gether, so  that,  the  repairs  of  the  jail,  alms  house  and 
other  joint  property  altogether  a small  amount  yearly, 
form  the  chief  joint  expense.  The  city  had  become  a 
greater  contributor  to  the  alms  house  and  other  county 
charges  than  the  county,  because  the  amount  of  proper- 
ty assessed  had  not  increased  in  the  county  as  it  had  in 
town,  and  while  this  change  placed  the  administration 
of  the  alms  of  the  citizens  within  the  controul  of  their 
representatives  in  council,  the  collection  of  the  tax  was 
merely  transferred  from  one  collector  to  another:  The 

forty  cents  additional  paid  the  city  collector  in  1820, 
was  only  the  forty  cents  which  had  been  paid  to  the 
county  collector  the  year  before,  and  the  county  bills  of 
1820  so  much  less  in  proportion;  for  instance. 

The  limitation  of  direct  tax  originally  fixed  at  75 
cents  per  1 00  dollars,  was  also  removed  and  the  collec- 
tion of  taxes  was  authorised  to  be  made  by  several  per- 
sons in  the  county  as  well  as  in  the  city. 

William  Pinkney,  Esq  is  appointed  a Senator  of  the 
United  States  in  the  place  of  Alexander  C.  Hanson, 
Esq.  deceased;  Edward  Johnson,  esq.  is  chosen  Mayor 
of  the  city  in  the  place  of  captain  George  Stiles,  deceas- 
ed, and  Theodorick  Bland,  esq.  is  appointed  district 
j udge  in  the  place  of  James  Houston,  esq.  deceased. — 


1819.]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  2 33 

John  Montgomery,  esq.  is  1 cted  one  of  the  city  dele- 
gates in  the  place  of  Mr.  Kell. 

On  the  first  of  July,  died  here,  General  Levin  Win- 
der, late  governor  of  the  state;  and  on  the  loth  of  Au- 
gust, the  Rev.  learned  and  eloquent  Doctor  James  Inglis, 
Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  congregation,  who  is 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  William  Nevins. 

By  the  census  of  1820,  there  were  in  the  city,  in- 
cluding the  precincts  and  a small  part  of  the  county,  now 
within  its  limits,  of  free  white  males  23,922,  females 
24,133,  other  free  persons  10,324,  slaves  3 357,  total 
62,738  being  an  increase  in  ten  years  of  16,183,  and 
from  1790,  when  the  first  census  was  taken,  of  49,235 
being  about  three  fifths  of  the  increase  of  population  in 
the  whole  state  in  the  same  period.  For  the  first  time, 
the  census  exhibits  an  excess  of  females  in  Baltimore, 
and  is  an  evidence  that  the  native  population  is  acquir- 
ing the  ascendency,  producing  a proportion  of  sexes 
usual  in  the  eastern  states.  Of  the  free  people  of  co- 
lour the  increase,  arising  chiefly  by  the  arrivals  from  the 
counties,  has  been  thirty  fold,  but  of  slaves,  not  two  for 
one;  though  it  is  found  that,  latterly,  the  mortality  of 
the  former,  compared  with  that  of  the  latter  is  as  five 
or  six  for  one.  Although  not  in  the  same  exorbitant 
proportion  perhaps,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the 
mortality  of  any  description  of  people  whose  occupa- 
tion and  habits  of  life  resemble  those  of  the  above  men- 
tioned class,  must  be  much  greater  than  with  others 
who  are  less  exposed,  more  prudent  or  better  provided- 

30 


234 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1820 

The  number  of  interments  the  same  year,  including 
a few  from  yellow  fever,  was  1625,  of  whom  there  were 
390  under  one  year  old,  78  are  stated  to  have  died  of 
old  age,  and  of  colour  d persons  48S.  The  population 
of  the  county  has  also  increased  at  the  expense  of' the 
city,  from  the  establishment  of  mills  and  factories. — 1 
The  ratio  of  representation  being  fixed  at  40,000,  there 
is  a large  fraction  lost  to  the  city.  Alexander  McKim, 
Esq.  is  chosen  one  of  the  electors  of  President,  and 
Thomas  Kell,  Esq.  an  elector  of  the  Senate. 

General  John  Strieker  and  Isaac  McKim,  Esq.  are 
elected  members  of  the  senate,  but  the  Genei  al  declin- 
ing, Reverdy  Johnson,  esq.  is  chosen  in  his  place,  and 
upon  Mr.  McKim’s  election  to  Congress  in  1822,  he  is 
succeeded  by  General  W.  H.  Winder. 

Reverdy  Johnson,  Lewis  Eichelberger  and  William 
W.  Hall,  esqs.  are  appointed  commissioners  of  in- 
solvents. The  district  attornies  are  abolished,  and 
Thomas  B.  Dorsey,  esq.  of  Anne  Arundel,  is  appointed 
Attorn  y General,  and  rosecutes  here. 

Alexander  McKim,  Beale  Randall  and  ephen  H. 
Moore,  esqs.  are  appointed  judges  of  the  orphans  court. 
Mr.  James  Martin,  Doctor  Thomas  E.  Bond,  and 
Messrs.  George  Warner,  John  S.  Smith  and  James 
Ellicott,  are  appointed  trustees  of  the  poor  house. 

John  Montgomery,  esq.  is  elected  Mayor  of  the  city, 
and  John  Barney  and  John  P.  K^n^dy,  esqs.  delegates 
tothe  assembly . > 

Died  at  Pittsburg,  on  the  second  of  December  1820, 
aged  sixty-one  years,  Commodore-  J^hua  Barney,  late 
commandant  of  the  flotilla  in  this  bay. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


236 


1821.] 

On  the  31st  May,  1821,  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathe- 
dral, which  was  began  in  1806,  was  consecrated  by  the 
Most  Rev. ; Archbishop  MaresehaL  This  building,  sus- 
pended by  the  war  was  re-commenced  in  1817,  by  funds 
arising  from  a sale  of  the  old  cemetery  on  Charles 
street,  part  of  their  grounds  obtained  for  the  Cathedral 
itself,  on  Franklin  street,  and  a Lottery,  together  with 
individual  contributions.  The  lorm  is  a Roman  Cross, 
its  length  on  Mulberry  street  166  feet,  its  breadth  77 
feet,  and  across  thetrancepts  115  feet.  The  diameter 
of  the  dome  is  69  feet  and  the  elevation  116  feet,  all  of 
mason  work,  on  the  outside  of  which  is  another  dome  of 
wood  and  coppered,  having  windows  by  which  light  is 
admitted  to  the  octagon  within. 

After  furnishing  the  plan  and  designs,  B.  H.  Latrobe? 
Esq.  directed  the  work  of  this  noble  edifice;  Mr.  James 
Hayden,  carpenter;  Mr.  Sebast.  Hickley,  stone  cutter; 
Mr.  James  Powers,  bricklayer;  Mr.  Peter  Baudson 
plasterer,  being  builders. 

By  an  act  passed  in  1319,  it  was  intended  to  pro- 
cure more  select  appointments  by  locating  justices  of 
the  peace  in  wards,  increasing  some  of  the  fees,  limit- 
ing the  number  to  one  or  two  for  each  ward,  the  num- 
ber  i hen  acting  in  town  not  exceeding  sixteen;  but 
the  provisions  of  the  law  were  inefficient.  County 
justices,  of  whom  there  were  in  town  and  county, 
above  one  hundred,  continuing  to  act  in  the  city  as  oc- 
casion suited  them;  in  1821,  a new  law  was  passed 
limiting  the  numher  to  thirty  six,  and  retaining  a pro- 
vision which  assimilated  the  power  of  constables  to 


236  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  1821] 

that  of  sheriffs  in  instituting  suits  for  debt,  but  without 
an  increase  of  fees  or  location  of  offices. 

The  legislature  laid  a direct  tax  upon  the  state  to 
the  amount  of  $'M,000,  of  which  Ba!timore  county 
including  the  city,  had  to  pay  $9,734,  and  the  next  year 
it  was  doubled,  but  the  last  or  present  tax  was  reduced 
to  $15,309.  The  sums  received  from  Baltimore  city 
and  county  for  1819,  20  and  21,  for  licenses,  &c.  aver- 
aged  $18,696  82. 

Col  nel  William  McDonald  is  appointed  Brigadier 
General  of  the  third  Brigade,  in  the  place  of  General 
Sterett,  deceased,  and  Col.  John  E.  Howard,  Jr.  is 
appointed  Brigadier  General  of  the  fourteenth  Brigade, 
in  the  place  of  General  Heath  deceased.  Sheppard  C . 
Leakin,  esquire,  is  elected  sheriff. 

On  the  twenty  first  of  August  departed  this  life  in 
the  seventy  second  year  of  his  age,  Gen  John  Swann, 
formerly  Brigadier  General  of  the  third  Brigade,  and  a 
meritorious  officer  of  the  cavalry  of  the  revolutionary 
army. 

The  new  bridge  on  Gay  street,  is  finished ; the  wTidth 
of  the  falls  being  the  span  of  the  arch,  is  seventy  feet, 
rising  eleven  and  an  half  feet  from  the  spring  of  the 
arch,  and  fifty  feet  wide;  built  of  granite  from  the  Sus- 
quehannah,  and  all  the  out  side  work  faced,  furnished 
with  side  walks  and  iron  railings. — Cost  $20,000 
Messrs.  Ring  & Frieze,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Mayor  and  the  city  commissioners,  were  the  builders. 

The  commissioners  completed  the  location  of  streets. 
Before  this  arduous  operation  was  effected,  for  which 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


237 


1822] 

no  pecuniary  reward  was  sought,  circumstances  obliged 
two  gentlemen,  who  had  accepted  the  office,  to  resign; 
and  Messrs.  Nathaniel  Williams,  and  John  McHenry 
were  appointed  in  their  places.  So  much  of  the  city 
had  been  laid  out  in  streets  running  north  and  south  and 
east  -and  west,  and  at  right  angles  with  each  other,  that, 
in  laying  out  the  new  grounds  in  the  same  manner, 
as  near  as  practicable,  they  consulted  the  interest  of 
the  greatest  number  of  proprietors,  as  well  as  the 
beauty  of  the  place ; and  the  extension  of  the  old  streets, 
of  sixty-six  feet  width,  admitted  of  intermediate  loca- 
tions of  lots  150  feet  deep,  with  fronts  on  such  streets 
running  to  an  alley  of  twenty  feet.  Where  different 
names  had  been  .given  to  continuations  of  the  same 
streets,  the  name  of  that  part  which  was  already  most 
improved,  was  generally  adopted  for  the  whole,  as 
Baltimore  street,  for  York  and  Dulany  streets;  and 
where  two  or  more  streets  had  similar  names,  that  is 
reserved  for  one  only,  and  some  other  name,  or  names, 
given  to  the  rest,  as  Greene  street,  in  the  twelfth  ward, 
named  in  compliment  to  General  Greene,  retains  it, 
and  the  street  of  the  same  name,  in  the  fourth  ward, 
connected  with  Exeter  street,  is  called  by  that  name. 

The  commissioners  employed  Mr.  T.  Poppleton,  who 
published  a plat  of  the  whole  city,  harbour,  & c.  em- 
bellished by  views  of  all  the  principal  buildings. 

A society  is  formed  to  loan  useful  books  to  the 
youths  of  the  city,  called  the  Apprentices’  Library,  of 
which  Col.  James  Mosher  is  chosen  president. 

On  Sunday,  23d  June,  the  extensive  lumber  yards 
on  the  west  side  of  Jones’  falls,  and  several  houses  on 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


238 


[1822 


M'Elderry’s  wharf  were  cckisumed  by  tire,  which  it  was 
supposed,  was  the  work  of  some  incendiaries,  who  also 
attempted  to  set  on  fire  some  other  lumber  yards  about 
the  same  time. 

On  the  2d  of  December,  533  paupers  of  the  city  and 
county,  were  removed  to  the  new  Alms  House,  at  Cal- 
verton,  two  miles  west  of  the  city.  The  centre  build- 
ing, of  stone  rough  cast,  was  erected  in  1816  for  a pri- 
vate gentleman,  R.  C.  Long,  Esq.  architect,  now  occu- 
pied by  the  oversee  , physician.  Slc  is  55  feet  front  and 
53  feet  deep ; two  wings  of  brick  work,  on  a plan  fur- 
nished by  Mr.  John  Sinclair,  W.  Mowton  builder,  are 
130  by  40  feet,  two  stories  on  a basement  each,  occu- 
pied by  the  paupers,  connected  to  the  centre  by  two 
covered  galleries  thirty  feet  each,  makes  the  whole  front 
towards  the  south  375  feet.  A bath  house,  w ash  house, 
and  spacious  court  yard  are  in  the  rear. 

To  this  important  institution  is  attached  a good  body 
of  land,  on  high  groimd,  but  having  a stream  of  w ater 
through  it.  The  average  number  of  poor  of  the  coun- 
ty is  now  35,  besides  44  out  pensioners,  and  the  cost 
$4,456;  and  that  of  the  city  poor  353,  besides  94 
out  pensioners,  and  the  cost  $20,187,  together  $24,643; 
which  includes  the  expenses  of  relieving  about  sixteen 
strangers,  admitted  in  peculiar  distress,  monthly. 

An  act  is  passed  increasing  the  number  of  trustees 
of  the  poor,  viz.  three  to  be  appointed  by  the  Execu- 
tive, and  Messrs.  John  Kelso,  Jacob  Councilman  and 
Jos.  Merryman  were  appointed,  and  four  by  the  corpo- 
ration, w’ho  were  Messrs.  George  Warner,  P.  E. 
Thomas,  William  Carman  and  Dr.  T.  E.  Bond. 


18 22]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  £39 

Edward  Johnson,  Esq.  is  again  elected  mayor. 

Gen.  Smith  is  elected  a member  of  the  senate  of  the 
United  States  in  the  place  of  William  Pinkney,  Esq. 
deceased,  and  Isaac  McKim,  Esq.  is  elected  to  fill  the 
vacancy  in  the  house  of  representatives  in  the  place  of 
Gen.  Smith,  and  also  for  the  succeeding  two  years. 
Robert  Purviance,  Esq.  is  elected  a delegate  to  the  legis- 
lature in  the  place  of  Mr.  Barney. 

Col.  John  Spear  Smith  is  appointed  brigadier  gene- 
ral of  the  14th  brigade,  in  the  place  of  Gen.  John  E. 
Howard,  junr.  deceased. 

Died  at  his  seat  near  this  city,  at  an  advanced  age. 
Colonel  Nicholas  Rogers,  formerly  one  of  the  justices 
of  the  county  and  orphans  courts,  and  aid  of  Major 
General  Baron  De  Kalb,  in  the  war  of  the  revolution ; 
also,  in  town,  Levy  Hollingsworth,  Esq.  formerly  mem- 
ber of  the  Senate  of  Maryland. 

A company  lately  incorporated,  erect  a Shot  Tower 
on  the  west  side  of  North  Gay  street,  which  was  raised 
more  than  1 GO  feet  above  the  ground,  by  Mr.  Jacob 
Wolfe,  builder,  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Joseph 
Jamieson,  President  of  the  company. 

The  name  of  Mr.  John  Gill,  plasterer,  who  executed 
the  rough  and  the  ornamental  work  of  the  Exchange  and 
the  Unitarian  Church,  should  have  been  added  as  one 
of  the  builders  of  them. 

A number  of  gentlemen  associate  together  to  establish 
an  Atheneum  and  the  institution  is  commenced  by  the 
purchase  of  books,  &c. 


240 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1823 

Stevenson  Archer,  Esq.  of  Harford  county,  is  ap- 
pointed chief  justice  of  this  district  in  the  place  of  Judge 
Dorsey  deceased. 

At  the  ensuing  session  the  eleventh  brigade  is  de- 
tached from  the  third  division,  and  General  Stansbury  is 
appointed  Major  General  of  a new  division  called  the 
Fourteenth,  exclusive  of  the  city  militia,  and  the  artil- 
lery of  the  city  constituted  one  brigade  of  which  Col. 
Matthew  McLaughlin  is  appointed  Brigadier  General. 

In  the  list  of  the  troop  of  horse  given  in  1782,  the 
name  of  Daniel  Hopkins  should  be  inserted  instead  of 
David,  his  brother,  and  to  those  names  should  be  added 
Messrs.  Daniel  Carroll,  of  Mt.  Dillon,  Robert  Dorsey, 
Math.  Patton,  W.  Buchanan  of  W.  and  David  Rees. 

The  average  revenue  of  the  state  received  from  Bal- 
timore city  and  county  for  licenses,  fines,  &c.  for  the 
last  five  years  was  $21,553,68,  and  in  1821  was  laid  a 
State  tax  collected  the  ensuing  year  of  which  Baltimore 
city  and  county  was  to  pay  $9,734,  and  the  next  year 
$19,478,  and  to  be  paid  in  1824,  $15, 309, upon  it  being 
discovered  that  the  proportion  of  60,000  levied  on  this 
city  and  county  was  excessive.  Two  Accademies  in  the 
county  receive  a donation  each  annually  of  $400,  and 
the  city  and  county  receive  out  of  the  tax  on  the  banks 
for  a school  fund  about  700  dollars  a year  each. 

Colonel  William  Steuart  and  William  G.  D.  Worth 
ington,  esq.  are  elected  delegates  to  the  assembly. 


1824]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  241 

General  John  Strieker  was  appointed  Navy  Agent  at 
this  port,  in  the  place  of  Captain  Jer.  Yellott,  in  1801, 
and  was  succeeded  by  James  Beatty,  Esq.  in  1809. 

Charles  Pinkney,  Esq.  was  appointed  Charge  at 
St.  Petersburg,  on  the  return  of  his  father,  late  Minis- 
ter at  that  Court,  in  1818. 

W.G.  D.  Worthington,  Esq.  is  appointed  Secretary  of 
the  Governor  of  Florida,  in  1822,  and  this  year,  H.  M. 
Brackenridge,  Esq.  is  appointed  Judge  of  West  Florida. 

The  following  natives  or  residents  of  this  city,  receiv- 
ed appointments  as  Consuls  or  Agents  of  the  United 
States,  at  the  places  annexed  to  their  names  successive- 
ly, commencing  with  the  year  1794  and  ending  with  the 
present:  T.  W.  Griffith,  (the  writer,)  Consul  at  Havre; 
Francis  L.  Taney,  Antwerp;  Joseph  Foreman,  Rot- 
terdam; Nathan  Levy,  Agent  Cape  Hayti;  William 
Y.  Purviance,  Leghorn;  Alexander  Hammett,  Consul 
at  Naples;  Henry  Wilson,  Nantz;  Robert  K.  Lowry, 
Laguira;  Nathan  Levy,  St.  Thomas;  James  Brice, 
Cape  Hayti.  Some  of  the  gentlemen  declined,  or 
did  not  finally  reach  the  places  to  which  they  were 
appointed,  and  some  were  transferred  to  other  situ- 
ations. 

Edward  J.  Coale,  Esq.  Vice  Consul  of  Russia,  be- 
comes Vice  Consul  of  Brazil.  Wm.  Dawson,  Esq.  suc- 
cessor of  Mr.  Woods,  dying  here,  John  Crawford,  Esq. 
is  appointed  British  Consul  in  1821. 

On  the  overthrow  of  the  Monarchy,  the  Chevalier 
D’Anmour,  first  Consul  from  France,  was  superseded 
by  Mr.  Moissonnier,  Consul  of  the  French  Republic, 
31 


242 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1824 

then  by  Mr.  Thomas;  Mr.  Le  Villain,  who  succeeded 
him,  died  here  in  1800,  and  was  succeeded  by  Messrs. 
Sotin,  Dannecourt  and  Arcambal,  who  was  Consul 
General  of  the  French  Empire.  Mr.  L.  F.  Le  Loup, 
succeeded  Mr.  Arcambal,  as  Consular  Agent  for  the 
Empire,  and  in  1815,  after  the  restoration,  the  Marquis 
de  Fougeres  succeeds  Mr.  Le  Loup,  Consul  for  France, 
and  this  Agency  or  Consulate  has  since  been  com- 
mitted to  Messrs.  Le  Loup,  Angeluci,  Danneri, 
Theirry,  Pelavoine  and  Henry,  in  succession. 

F.  C.  Graff,  Esq.  is  appointed  Consul  for  Hamburg. 

J.  F.  Hoogewerff,  Esq.  is  appointed  Consul  of  the 
Netherlands,  in  the  place  of  C.  S.  Konig,  Esq.  deceased. 

Messrs.  Geo.  W.  Rodgers,  H.  E.  Ballard,  Jos.  J. 
Nicholson,  Wm.  Goodwin,  J.  Woodyear  & T.  Coale,  en- 
tered the  navy  in  1804,  and  afterwards,  W.  K.  Latimer, 
Jno.  Galagher,  Wm.C.  Nicholson,  Benj.  Goodwin, Thos. 
Rutter,  H.  Henry,  H.  Scott,  F.  Sanderson,  G.  N.  Hol- 
lins, D R.  Steuart,  Edward  C.  Pinkney,  Franklin 
Buchanan,  Wm.  H.  Campbell,  J.  G.  Rogers,  J.  P.  Wil- 
son, H.  Y.  Purviance,  Henry  Pinkney,  J.  McKean 
Buckhanan,  W.  M.  Glendy,  C.  H.  Little,  A.  K.  Long, 
George  Adams,  J.  S.  Sterett,  C.  H.  M‘Blair,  Fre.  Cha- 
tard  W.  Basset,  and  Wm.  M^Blair. 

Congress  having  created  a Navy  Board,  Captain  John 
Rodgers  is  appointed  a Commissioner  and  President  in 
1815,  and  is  continued  except  when  employed  in  com- 
mand on  foreign  service. 

Colonel  N.  Towson  was  appointed  Paymaster  Gene- 
ral soon  after  the  war.  The  following  gentlemen 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


2 43 


1824] 

entered  the  Army  at  different  periods,  that  is  to  say, 
in  the  Artillery,  Messrs.  J.  Schmuck,  J.  A.  Dumes- 
te,  J.  H.  Winder,  Joshua  Barney  and  William  Turn- 
bull;  and  in  the  Infantry,  James  H.  Hook,  T.  Mont- 
gomery, Bennet  Riley,  William  Belton,  William  Camp, 
Reuben  Gilder,  Thomas  Wilson,  Henry  Thompson,  E. 
H.  Courtney,  Jos.  M Baxley  and  Thomas  Noel. 

On  the  21st  of  December,  1823,  a town  meeting  was 
held  in  the  Exchange,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the 
opinion  of  the  citizens  on  the  subject  of  Canals;  not 
that  there  were  any  doubts  about  the  advantages  of 
them,  but  to  know  whether  the  citizens  would  prefer 
one  to  be  made  first  to  the  Susquehanna,  or  to  the  Ohio 
river;  supposing  the  latter  to  be  continued  to  Baltimore 
eventually,  and  as  was  provided  for  by  an  act  of  Assem- 
bly two  years  after.  It  appeared  that  a great  majority 
of  the  persons  attending,  gave  a preference  to  the  first 
project. 

And  at  the  Assembly  then  in  Session,  an  Act  was 
passed  to  authorise  the  Corporation  of  the  city  to  make 
a Canal  to  the  head  of  tide  water  on  the  Susquehanna, 
and  from  thence  to  the  Conewaga  Falls,  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, if  such  an  extension  was  permitted  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  that  state;  and  another  act  to  incorporate  a com- 
pany to  make  a Canal  from  tide  water  on  the  Potomac 
to  the  Ohio,  if  assented  to  by  the  general  government 
and  the  states  through  which  it  would  pass.  G.  Winches- 
ter, Esq.  Judge  Bland  and  Jno.  Patterson,  Esq.  having 
been  commissioned  by  the  state  to  survey  a route  for  the 
first  mentioned  Canal,  and  report  an  estimate. 

The  next  year,  that  is  at  the  Session  of  1824,  the 


244 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1824 

Assembly  adopted  and  confirmed  an  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Virginia,  incorporating  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio 
Canal  Company;  and  in  1825,  Stock  to  the  amount  of 
the  States’  interest  in  the  Potomac  Canal  Company,  with 
five  thousand  additional  shares,  were  to  be  vested  in  the- 
new  company  on  the  part  of  Maryland- 

The  same  amount  of  five  thousand  shares  was  to  be 
taken  in  the  Susquehanna  Company,  then  again  incorpo- 
rated— the  old  Susquehanna  Canal  Company’s  interest 
being  secured  in  this,  if  the  same  should  be  effected- 
Finding  the  summit  on  the  direct  route  to  be  1000 
feet,  the  Commissioners  proposed  a Canal  of  93  miles 
from  the  Falls  to  the  tide,  to  cost  1,622,000  dollars,  and 
from  thence  across  the  necks  or  points  of  land,  to  the 
city,  36  miles,  to  cost  764,000  dollars,  and  at  the  Ses- 
sion of  1826,  another  act  is  passed,  entitled  the  Penn- 
sylvania and  Maryland  Canal  Company. 

Both  this  project  and  that  of  the  Canal  to  extend  to 
the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  were  abandoned  soon 
after  for  the  introduction  of  Railways-  The  city,  how- 
ever, authorised  by  the  state,  appropriated  §5000  a year 
for  ten  years,  towards  clearing  away  the  obstructions  in 
the  bed  of  the  river  Susquehanna- 

General  Andrew  Jackson,  then  a member  of  the  Se- 
nate of  the  United  States,  was  waited  on  at  Washing- 
ton by  Messrs.  Winder,  Riggen,  B-  C-  Howard  and 
R-  S Hollins,  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  citizens,  with 
an  invitation  to  a Ball  to  be  held  in  honor  of  the  victo- 
ry of  the  8th  of  January,  at  New  Orleans,  which  he  po- 
litely declined;  but,  retiring  from  the  Senate  passing 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


245 


1884] 


homeward,  the  ensuing  year,  a Ball  was  given  him  on 
the  evening  of  the  5th  March. 

On  the  7th  October,  General  Lafayette  landed  at 
Fort  McHenry,  from  the  steam  boat  which  had  been 
sent,  with  a deputation  of  the  corporate  and  military  of- 
ficers for  him,  to  the  head  of  the  bay.  He  was  received 
on  landing,  by  the  Governor  of  the  State  and  the  Mayor 
of  the  city,  and  by  General  Smith,  Colonel  Howard, 
Mr.  Carroll,  Generals  P.  Stewart,  Reed,  Benson,  and 
Strieker,  Colonel  Bentalou,  and  Mr.  Boismartin,  as  old 
acquaintances  whom  he  had  not  seen  for  40  years,  and 
addressed  them  with  sentiments  of  the  purest  friendship, 
which  was  met  by  like  feelings  on  their  part. 

From  the  fort,  the  General  was  accompanied  by  a mi- 
litary escort,  and  the  same  gentlemen  in  open  carriages 
to  the  city,  his  own  in  advance — The  General  entered 
Baltimore  street  by  Paca  street,  uncovered,  passing  un- 
der very  handsome  triumphal  arches  at  Eutaw  street  and 
the  Bridge — crowds  of  both  sexes  saluted  him  as  he 
passed.  Returning  from  Fell’s  Point  he  alighted  at  the 
Exchange,  and  was  again  welcomed  by  the  Mayor,  who, 
with  General  Harper,  presented  to  him  the  civil  and 
military  officers,  and  Messrs-  S.  Hollingsworth,  Wil- 
liam Patterson,  Alexander  McKim  and  Nathan  Levy, 
being  most  of  the  survivors  of  the  city  volunteer  troop 
who  had  served  under  him  in  Virginia,  in  1781,  and 
whom  he  also  received  in  the  most  feeling  manner. 
That  evening  the  city  was  brilliantly  illuminated  in 
honour  of  the  Nation’s  Guest,  and  on  the  next  evening 
he  was  entertained  at  a splendid  ball  and  supper  in  the 
Theatre,  Holiday  street. 


246 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1824 


He  was  accommodated  at  the  Fountain  Inn,  Light 
street,  at  the  public  expense ; and  there  and  at  the  Ex- 
change, he  was  every  day  engaged  in  receiving  the  inha- 
bitants of  both  sexes,  finding  time  with  difficulty,  to  dine 
with  the  Society  of  Cincinnati  and  Free  Masons,  and  to 
call  on  a few  of  the  families  which  he  recollected  of 
former  days,  until  the  11th,  when  he  left  town  with  an 
escort  for  Washington. 

Having  made  the  tour  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Lakes,  General  Lafayette  visited  our  city,  for  the  last 
time,  probably,  on  the  31st  July,  1825-  He  referred 
on  several  occasions  and  in  terms  of  gratitude,  to  the 
assistance  received  here  in  1781,  as  well  from  the  hands 
of  the  ladies,  in  working  up  cloths  for  his  troops,  as  from 
those  of  the  gentlemen,  by  lending  in  specie  $7 ,256  be- 
tween them,  to  purchase  materials,  already  noticed  in 
these  Annals;  but  it  may  be  proper  to  record  the  names 
of  those  individuals  and  commercial  houses,  who  were 
Messrs. 

Samuel  Hughes,  Hugh  Young, 


William  Smith, 
Stewart  & Salmon, 
William  Patterson, 
S.  & R.  Purviance, 
John  M^Lure, 
James  Calhoun, 
John  Sterett, 
Richard  Curson, 
Ridley  & Pringle, 
Daniel  Bowly, 
Thomas  Russell, 


William.  Neill, 

Stephen  Steward, 

John  Smith,  jr. 

Russell  & Hughes, 
Jacob  Hart, 

Alexander  Donaldson, 
Russell  & Gilmor, 
James  McHenry, 

Chas.  Carroll,  Barrister, 
Nicholas  Rogers  and 
Nathaniel  Smith. 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


247 


1824] 

At  the  Session  of  the  Assembly  commencing  in  De- 
cember, it  was  proposed  to  alter  the  constitution  of  the 
State  in  relation  to  the  test,  to  the  oath  of  the  public 
officers  and  the  representation  of  the  city  in  the  House 
of  Delegates.  The  first  admitted  the  Jews  to  hold 
office,  and  the  second,  reducing  various  oaths  to  one, 
were  duly  confirmed  the  ensuing  year;  but  the  last,  giv- 
ing the  citizens  two  additional  Delegates,  was  rejected 
in  their  house  by  a vote  of  36  to  28,  though  the  citizens 
at  the  solicitation  of  the  writer,  had  generally,  and  with- 
out distinction  of  class  or  party,  petitioned  for  the 
change.  The  Delegates  from  the  Southern  counties 
on  each  shore,  with  few  exceptions,  voting  in  the  ne- 
gative and  against  the  city. 

The  general  government  procured  grounds  by  assent 
of  the  state,  and  erected  Light  Houses  on  Pool’s  Isl- 
and and  Thomas’  Point,  Chesapeake  Bay. 

Acts  were  passed  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  City 
Justices  of  Peace  in  matters  of  small  debts,  to  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  to  Justices  generally,  a new  jurisdic- 
tion in  actions  of  trespass,  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars 
damage.  These  might  have  been  extended  with  advan- 
tage to  all  cases  of  rent  in  arrear,  which  is  yet  under 
control  of  landlords  and  bailiffs,  as  in  the  times  of  feu- 
dal vassalage.  It  is  due  to  the  promotion  of  industry, 
that  landlords  should  have  more  prompt  means  of  expel- 
ling tenants;  but,  at  least,  rent  should  be  proved  to  be 
due  before  their  property  is  committed  to  an  executing 
officer.  Among  the  evidences  of  a more  liberal  jurispru- 
dence than  before  however,  was  an  Act  of  the  Session 
of  1820,  to  provide  compensation  for  the  maintenance  of 


248 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


r [1824 

debtor’s  in  confinement  on  Magistrate’s  judgments,  at 
the  expense  of  their  creditors;  and  now  another  to  pro- 
hibit the  imprisonment  of  females  for  any  debts  what- 
ever, which  many  wished  extended  to  both  sexes. 

On  the  1 3th  February  there  was  a town  meeting  held 
to  protest  against  the  caucus  of  Congressmen,  to  nomi- 
nate candidates  for  President  and  Vice  President,  and 
in  the  course  of  the  summer,  ward  meetings  were  held 
by  the  friends  of  General  A.  Jackson  and  John  Q- 
Adams,  Esq. 

On  the  18th  of  April  the  boiler  of  the  Eagle  steam 
boat,  returning  from  the  Patuxent  and  Annapolis,  ex- 
ploded, and  Henry  M.  Murray,  Esq.  State  District  At- 
torney, passenger,  and  some  hands,  were  severely  injur- 
ed. Mr.  Murray  languished  until  the  28th,  when  he 
died  from  the  accident;  which  was  the  first  fatal  explo- 
sion in  the  Chesapeake. 

There  was  a thunder  storm  on  the  29th  June,  and 
one  person  killed  by  the  lightning,  which  also  extin- 
guished the  gas  lights  corner  of  Baltimore  and  Charles 
streets. 

Acts  of  Assembly  are  passed  granting  corporate  pri- 
vileges to  the  Gunpowder  Company;  the  United  States 
Beneficial  Society,  and  the  Mutual  Insurance  Compa- 
ny— also  to  remove  an  obstruction  on  the  south  side  of 
Water  street;  and  to  open  and  extend  Pleasant  street 
to  the  Falls,  so  as  to  make  a direct  communication  with 
Hillen  street  on  the  opposite  side.  In  order  more  ef- 
fectually to  promote  the  intercourse  between  the  east 
and  the  west,  and  the  general  health  of  that  part  of  the 
city,  it  were  to  be  wished  that  provision  had  also  been 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


2 49 


1824] 

made,  before  too  much  improved,  for  regrading  and 
raising  the  pavement  of  Calvert  street,  from  Monument 
place  to  Mulberry  street;  or,  at  least  at  the  foot  of  the 
declivities  in  Pleasant  and  other  cross  streets. 

The  city  expended  $18,000  on  the  harbor,  and  re- 
ceived but  $2,300  from  tonnage  duty  allowed  by  Con- 
gress. Property  valued  at  $3,000,000  was  taxed  at  2\ 
per  cent;  which,  with  $22,000  from  Auctions,  and 
$43,000  from  Licences,  Rents,  Fines,  &c.  were  to  de- 
fray the  interest  of  a stock  debt  of  465,000  dollars,  at 
5 and  6 per  cent  per  annum,  amounting  to  24,000  dol- 
lars; and  also  to  defray  the  Watching,  Lighting,  Sala- 
ries of  officers,  &c. 

Flour  inspected  539,900  barrels.  Herrings  inspect- 
ed 46,575  barrels.  Tobacco  exported  15,523  hogs- 
heads, leaving  6,287  hogsheads  in  the  warehouses  of 
the  city  at  the  end  of  the  year. 

Judge  Bland  was  appointed  Chancellor  of  Maryland, 
on  the  death  of  W.  Kilty,  Esq.;  Elias  Glenn,  Esq.  is 
appointed  District  Judge  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Bland,  and 
Nathaniel  Williams,  Esq.  is  appointed  Attorney  of  the 
District  in  the  place  of  Mr-  Glenn. 

Thomas  Kell,  Esq.  is  appointed  Attorney  General  of 
the  State.  John  Barney,  Esq.  is  elected  a representa- 
tive to  Congress  in  the  place  of  Isaac  McKim,  Esq. 
John  Montgomery,  Esq.  is  elected  Mayor-  B.  C.  How- 
ard and  J.  S.  Tj'son,  Esqs-  are  elected  Delegates  to  the 
Assembly,  and  Colonel  Standish  Barry  is  elected  She- 
riff. At  the  election  of  Electors  of  President  and  Vice 
President, Messrs.  Geo-  Winchester  and  Dennis  Claude; 

32 


250 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1825 

candidates  favourable  to  General  Andrew  Jackson,  were 
chosen  for  the  District-  On  the  24th  May,  General 
William  H.  Winder  departed  this  life,  after  a short  and 
severe  illness,  in  the  49th  year  of  his  age,  and  was  in- 
tered  with  civic,  military  and  masonic  honours.  As 
Senator,  General  Winder  is  succeeded  by  Jno.  Scott, 
Esq.  A rifle  regiment  newly  organized,  had  chosen  the 
General  their  Colonel,  in  which  command  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Colonel  Standish  Barry,  and  as  master  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  the  State,  he  was  succeeded  by  Colonel 
B.  C.  Howard. 

On  the  19th  December,  died  of  a paralysis  under 
which  he  had  suffered  many  years,  William  Buchanan, 
of  Geo.  Esq.  Register  of  Wills  of  this  county,  and  D- 
M.  Perrine,  Esq-  was  appointed  to  the  same  office  soon 
after- 

The  whole  number  of  deaths  for  the  year  is  stated  at 
1468,  of  whom  there  were  48  slaves  and  368  free  per- 
sons of  colour. 

Among  the  unproductive  expenditures  referred  to  in 
the  year  1819,  of  these  Annals,  might  have  been  dis- 
tinguished those  twelve  handsome  buildings,  erected  by 
Messrs.  Robert  Mills,  John  Ready,  James  Hines  and 
others,  on  grounds  leased  of  the  Water  Company,  at  the 
intersection  of  Calvert  and  Monument  streets — And 
those  eight  commodious  dwellings,  erected  on  part  of 
the  grounds  of  Lewis  Pascault,  Esq-  by  that  gentleman, 
M.  Rezin  Wight  and  others,  on  Lexington  near  Pine 
street;  all  of  which,  being  considered  too  distant  for 
men  of  business,  as  most  all  of  our  citizens  are,  would 


1825] 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


25 1 


not  command  rent  nearly  equal  to  common  legal  inter- 
est- And  here  it  may  be  added,  that  of  185,000  dol- 
lars invested  by  the  State  in  three  Baltimore  banks, 
there  was  a diminution  of  the  stock  and  a loss,  exclu- 
sive of  all  interest  thereon  since,  of  64,000  dollars. 

The  first  private  house  of  extent,  beauty  or  cost 
erected  afterwards,  was  that  on  the  N.  E.  corner  of 
Franklin  and  Cathedral  streets,  on  a plan  of  Mr.  Mills, 
of  common  quarry  stone,  stuccoed,  for  John  Hoffman, 
Esq.;  afterwards  ceded  to  and  occupied  by  his  brother, 
George  Hoffman,  Esq.  and  now,  Hugh  Birkhead,  Esq. 
erects  the  spacious  dwelling  on  Charles  near  Lexing- 
ton street,  according  to  designs  furnished  by  Mr-  J.  W. 
Collins,  the  builder.  It  is  built  of  brick,  and  of  that  fine 
material  and  workmanship  for  which  Baltimore  is 
justly  celebrated,  or  ought  to  be,  and  like  Mr.  Hoffman’s, 
raised  several  steps,  some  of  which  are  within  and  un- 
der cover. 

The  Directors  of  the  Athenaeum  having  procured  a 
charter  and  the  spacious  lot  on  the  S.  W-  corner  of  St. 
Paul’s  and  Lexington  streets,  erect  a brick  building,  80 
feet  front  on  the  first  and  120  feet  on  the  latter,  ac 
cording  to  the  designs  of  Wm-  F.  Small,  Esq.  Archi- 
tect, who  superintended  the  building,  which  wa9  stuc- 
coed in  imitation  of  free  stone,  by  Mr-  John  Gill.  The 
builders  were  Messrs.  R.  A.  Shi  ply,  James  Symington 
and  D.  Trumbo-  For  this  institution  the  writer  was 
appointed  Secretary,  but  the  multitude  of  reading  rooms 
opened  at  the  time  interfered,  and  the  company  rent  out 
offices  and  places  of  meeting  for  other  societies. 

The  same  Architect  and  builders  are  employed  by 


152  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1825 

Messrs-  D-  Barnum,  W.  Shipley  and  J-  Philips,  jr-  to 
erect  the  house  of  public  entertainment  on  grounds  ob- 
tained of  various  persons,  at  the  S-  W-  corner  of  Cal- 
vert and  Fayette  streets,  running  120  feet  on  the  former 
and  200,  including  two  mansion  houses  serving  for 
private  entries  and  accommodations,  on  the  latter,  on  a 
basement  of  granite,  and  elevated  four  stories  of  brick, 
stuccoed,  and  an  attic  of  frame  work.  The  whole 
contains  above  200  rooms  or  separate  apartments  for 
public  accommodation.  At  the  instance  of  the  writer, 
who  considers  the  folding  sash  of  Continental  Europe 
alone  suited  to  our  climate,  they  were  adopted  by  Mr. 
Small  for  the  basement  of  this  house. 

Early  in  January,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  deter- 
mined that  the  hundred  weight  of  sugar,  hemp,  iron 
and  other  merchandise,  which  had  consisted  of  1 12  lbs. 
should  be  reduced  to  the  100  lbs-  only,  as  tobacco,  cot- 
ton, rice,  coffee,  &,c-  always  were-  Some  years  after, 
the  Legislature  determined  that  hay  and  straw  shall  be 
weighed  in  the  same  manner  by  the  city  inspectors. 

At  the  session  of  the  present  year,  the  Executive  are 
authorized  to  appoint  four  Justices  of  the  peace  in  the 
city,  to  be  called  and  exercise  the  duties  of  County  Jus- 
tices, except  in  the  recovery  of  small  debts-  Instead  of 
reducing  the  number  or  locating  any,  and  adding  to  the 
independence  of  the  office,  thirty-six  are  still  appointed 
promiscuously;  like  the  constables,  whose  fees  are  in- 
creased at  the  same  session  beyond  all  proportion, 
rendering  the  former  more  dependant  on  the  latter  than 
they  were,  for  a very  inadequate  pecuniary  compensa- 
tion, degrade  the  Commission  and  abandon  both  small 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


253 


1825] 

creditor  and  small  debtor,  that  is  the  poor  generally,  to 
the  cupidity  of  those  who  should  be  servants  of  the  office. 

The  Legislature  resolve  to  establish  houses  for  the 
inspection  of  tobacco  at  the  expense  and  for  the  benefit 
of  the  state;  and  those  of  Messrs-  Dugan,  O’Donnell  and 
Williams,  on  the  wharf  west  side  of  Centre  Market 
dock,  and  that  of  Mr.  M.  Sheppard,  on  Light  street 
wharf,  are  purchased  and  fitted  up  extensively  for  the 
purpose. 

The  government  of  the  University  of  Maryland  is 
transferred  to  a new  Board  of  Trustees,  of  which  the 
Governor  of  the  state  is  President  ex-officio,  and  twenty- 
one  gentlemen  named  in  the  law,  among  whom  vacan 
cies  are  to  be  filled  by  the  Executive  of  the  State ; and 
this  Board,  besides  common  corporate  powers,  is  autho- 
rised to  choose  a Vice  President,  appoint  and  dismiss 
Provosts,  Professors,  &c.  The  proceeds  of  a Lottery  are 
appropriated  to  pay  for  the  infirmary,  to  purchase  che- 
mical apparatus,  and  for  the  use  of  the  Faculties  of  Arts 
and  of  Law;  all  very  limited  in  amount,  not  paid  in  hand 
but  uncertain,  and  not  commensurate  with  the  wants  of 
such  an  institution  or  the  capacities  of  the  State-  At 
a meeting  of  the  Trustees  next  year,  Charles  H.  Han- 
son, Esq.  was  appointed  professor  of  Political  Economy, 
John  P-  Kennedy,  Esq-  of  History,  and  Edward  C. 
Pinkney,  Esq-  Rhetoric  and  Belles  Lettres;  the  other 
Professors  being  continued  as  they  then  were. 

A Board  of  public  works,  composed  of  the  Governor 
for  the  time  being,  and  others,  is  created  and  assemble 
in  this  city  occasionally;  and  provision  is  made  for  the 
establishment  of  Public  Schools  throughout  the  State; 


254 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1825 

but,  at  the  option  of  the  counties,  with  power  in  the 
corporation  to  adopt  them  in  Baltimore;  the  whole  to  be 
under  the  direction  of  trustrees  and  a general  superin- 
tendent, which  is  accepted  by  the  city  and  several 
counties. 

A toll  bridge  had  been  authorized  and  erected  over 
Patapsco,  at  Elkridge  Landing,  and  now  others  are 
erected  at  two  lower  ferries,  at  the  expense  of  the  pro- 
prietors, and  the  communication  with  Washington  and 
Annapolis  thereby  secured.  The  Post  Master  General 
made  a report  to  Congress  on  the  mail  route  to  Phila- 
delphia, recommending  the  construction  of  a Turnpike 
Road  35  miles,  to  cross  the  Susquehanna  by  Port  De- 
posit Bridge  and  connect  the  Turnpikes  already  made 
between  the  cities;  this  was  to  increase  the  distance 
three  miles;  but  from  surveys  ordered  by  Congress,  it 
appeared  that  the  old  route  is  only  94  miles,  and  by  it 
the  post  still  travels  in  winter,  and  when  the  mails  can- 
not be  sent  by  steam  boats. 

The  government  of  Hayti  send  an  agent  to  invite  the 
free  people  of  color  to  migrate  to,  and  offer  them  means 
of  settling  on  that  Island;  of  which  a considerable  num- 
ber avail  themselves,  being  also  encouraged  by  a society 
which  had  been  orgariised  the  year  before  by  the  Mayor, 
Judge  Brice,  P-  E.  Thomas  and  others. 

Two  revenue  cutters  are  built  here  and  afford  some 
relief  to  a class  of  tradesmen  exceedingly  well  qualified 
for  the  construction  of  fast  sailors,  but  latterly  too  little 
encouraged  by  the  General  Government. 

President  Adams  and  family  passed  through  the  city 
in  September,  on  their  way  to  Q,uincy,  but  declines  the 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


255 


18 25] 

public  civilities  which  the  citizens  tendered,  as  he  did 
on  their  return. 

Horace  H.  Hayden,  Esq.  published  a very  ingenious 
Essay  on  Geology,  including  the  subject  of  original 
formations  near  this  city  and  elsewhere,  in  1820.  And 
now  Daniel  Raymond,  Esq-  publishes  a Treatise  on 
Political  Economy,  containing  new  and  interesting  prin- 
ciples on  accumulation,  consumption,  &c. 

The  Legislature  assume  for  the  State  the  entire  con- 
trol of  the  Flour  Inspection,  taking  from  the  city  au- 
thorities the  appointment  of  the  inspectors.  Fire  wood 
brought  by  water  for  sale  in  the  city,  is  regulated  entire- 
ly by  the  state  government;  Lumber,  Boards  and 
Staves,  as  well  as  Hay,  were  all  partly  under  state  con- 
trol. Having  before  taken  the  tobacco  warehouses  from 
the  government  of  the  county,  these  measures  render 
the  quality  of  the  products  of  the  state,  though  used  or 
shipped  from  this  city,  wholly  exempt  from  the  regula- 
tion or  control  of  the  city  authorities.  The  remaining 
articles  of  Beef,  Pork,  Potash,  Flaxseed,  &c.  in  the  qua- 
lity of  which  the  Legislature  take  no  interest,  because 
prepared  or  brought  here  from  other  States  chiefly,  are 
the  only  objects  left  to  city  management.  The  inco 
herence  of  these  measures,  point  directly  to  the  right  of 
Congress  to  regulate  commerce,  and  the  establishment 
of  particular  weights,  &c.  and  the  revenue  drawn  by  the 
State  or  City, through  licences  to  inspectors  of  merchan- 
dise, or  otherwise  effecting  produce,  appears  to  be 
unconstitutional. 

Acts  are  also  passed  to  give  a preference  to  deeds  ac- 
cording to  time  of  record,  securing  the  rights  of  mort- 


256  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1825 

gagees;  to  licence  limited  partnerships,  and  to  determine 
the  liability  of  agents  and  factors. 

Among  other  acts  more  especially  interesting  to  the 
city,  are  those  incorporating  the  Academy  of  Sciences, 
R.  Gilmor,  Esq.  President;  the  Maryland  Institute  of 
Arts,  W.  Stewart,  Esq.  President;  the  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware  and  Maryland  Steam  Navigation  Company; 
the  Fireman’s  Insurance  Company;  the  Lafayette  Be- 
neficial Society;  the  Patapsco  Fire  Engine  Company; 
the  iEtna  Company  for  the  manufacture  of  iron,  and 
the  Seamen’s  Union  Bethel  Society;  which  last  obtains 
a lot  and  erects  a small  place  of  worship  on  Philpot 
street,  Fell’s  Point,  of  which  they  elect  the  Reverend 
Stephen  Williams  Chaplain- 

Although  the  commencement  of  the  Sessions  of 
the  General  Assembly  was  transferred  from  the  first  to 
the  fourth  Monday  of  December,  in  each  year,  and  this 
change  took  effect  at  this  session,  it  is  intended  that  the 
Acts  of  the  Session,  though  passed  in  the  ensuing  year, 
shall  be  considered  as  Acts  of  the  year  in  which  the  Ses- 
sion began  generally,  as  for  the  official  year  and  as 
heretofore  done  in  this  work- 

Mrs.  Iturbide,  widow  of  the  late  Emperor  of  Mexico, 
arrives  and  takes  lodgings  in  this  city,  and  Commodore 
Porter,  who  had  fitted  out  here  the  armament  against 
the  West  India  pirates,  and  succeeded  in  arresting  their 
career,  being  suspended  by  Court  Martial  on  a charge  of 
exceeding  his  orders,  resigned  his  commission  and  en- 
tered into  the  Naval  service  of  the  Mexican  States,  de- 
clared a confederate  Republic. 


1825]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  251 

On  the  15th  of  January,  General  Robert  G.  Harper 
died  suddenly  at  his  town  residence,  after  a very  dis- 
tinguished and  useful  life,  and  was  interred  at  Oakland, 
his  seat  in  the  county  with  civic  and  military  honors. 
General  Strieker  declines,  and  General  W.  M’Donald 
of  the  3d.  brigade,  is  appointed  Major  General  of  the 
3d.  Division,  in  place  of  general  Harper;  and  colonel 
G.  H.  Stewart  succeeds  general  M’Donald  in  command 
of  the  3d.  Brigade. 

Some  of  the  uniformed  volunteer  militia  of  the  city, 
consisting  of  a regiment  of  infantry,  riflemen,  cavalry 
and  artillery  each,  are  formed  into  a brigade  by  law, 
and  colonel  Geo.  H.  Steuart  is  appointed  their  General. 

The  summer  was  long,  dry  and  warm;  the  ther- 
mometer being  frequently  as  high  as  94,  but  the  city 
was  not  unhealthy. 

Christopher  Hughes,  Esq.  is  appointed  charge  to  the 
kingdom  of  the  Netherlands.  W.  H.  Allen  is  appoint- 
ed land  commissioner,  and  Wm.  Pinkney,  Esq.  collect- 
or at  Key  West,  in  Florida. 

Christian  Mayer,  Esq.  is  appointed  Consul  General 
from  Wirtemburg,  and  Ch.  Tiernan,  Esq.  Vice  Consul 
for  Mexico;  Colonel  Wm.  Steuart  of  this  city,  is  cho- 
sen a member  of  the  executive  council  of  the  State,  and 
so  continued  during  three  years  successively. 

B-  C.  Howard  and  J.  S.  Tyson,  Esqs.  are  elected  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland. 

General  John  Strieker  died  of  a protracted  illness, 
much  esteemed  and  regretted,  on  the  23d  day  of  June, 
and  was  interred  with  civic  and  military  honors. 

33 


258 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1826 

For  some  time  the  public  continued  to  be  entertained 
by  different  projects  for  canalling  from  the  Susquehanna 
to  the  City;  but  before  the  proposed  companies  could 
be  formed,  accounts  were  received  of  the  success  of  the 
Rail  Roads  in  England,  and  of  two  small  ones  made  at 
Quincy  and  Mauch  Chunk,  giving  a new  turn  to  the 
spirit  of  improvement  here  entirely  in  favor  of  the  lat- 
ter mode  of  transportation. 

It  was  on  the  12th  of  February  following  that  a num- 
ber of  citizens  assembled  to  hear  accounts  of  those 
roads,  and  agreed  to  undertake  one- 

Accordingly,  at  the  ensuing  session  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, a charter  was  granted  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Rail  Road  Company,  appointing  Messrs.  Isaac  M’Kim, 
Thomas  Ellicott,  Joseph  Patterson,  John  M’Kim  Jr. 
William  Steuart,  Talbot  Jones,  R.  L.  Colt,  Geo.  Brown 
and  Evan  Thomas  to  receive  subscriptions  for  a capital 
Stock  of  three  millions,  in  shares  of  100  dollars  each, 
reserving  10,000  shares  for  the  State  and  5,000  for  the 
corporation  of  the  City.  Different  from  Turnpike  Road 
Companies,  this  has  the  exclusive  right  to  travel  or  car- 
ry on  the  road ; but  the  price  of  carriage  is  limited  at 
rates  much  below  the  former  cost  of  transportation, 
that  is,  to  four  cents  per  ton  eastward  and  six  cents  per 
ton  westward,  per  mile;  and  three  cents  per  mile  for 
persons,  including  carriage  and  tolls  in  all  cases- 

There  were  also  chartered  at  the  same  Session,  a 
company  to  carry  on  Mining  in  Mexico,  by  the  name  of 
Temascaltepec;  and  one  the  next  year  by  the  name  of 
Tlalcotal,  and  another  the  year  after,  called  the  Ceral- 
vo  Mining  Company ; each  with  300,000  dollars  joint 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


259 


1826] 

Stock.  These  hazardous  speculations  abroad  originat- 
ed with  the  English,  and  were  followed  here  from  the 
want  of  objects  of  investment  at  home,  partially  sus- 
pended. 

There  originated  at  this  time  a plan  of  forming  a 
Bank  to  discount  from  deposits,  which  is  called  the 
Maryland  Savings’  Institution,  and  a charter  is  granted 
for  18  years,  prohibiting  however,  any  infringement  of 
rights  vested  in  other  Banks. 

It  was  found  to  succeed  as  a Joint  Stock  Company, 
without  issues  of  notes,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to 
establish  another,  which  was  successfully  opposed  by 
the  old  Banking  Institutions.  It  was  discovered,  per- 
haps, that  individuals  with  little  or  no  cash,  had  become 
masters  of  the  currency  and  public  credit  through  the 
capitals  of  others,  and  that  the  State  had  been  in  the  prac- 
tice of  conveying  away,  without  valuable  considera- 
r tions,  a source  of  patronage  and  profit  which  none  but 
the  Sovereign  should  possess.  It  was  accordingly  pro- 
posed three  years  after,  to  establish  a State  Bank  by 
the  capital  it  possessed  in  the  Banks  incorporated, 
and  other  public  institutions;  in  the  Funded  Debt 
of  the  United  States  and  in  the  general  revenue,  the 
profits  of  which  should  come  into  the  State  Treasury 
and  supercede  the  ordinary  taxes.  And  in  respect  to 
Charters  granted,  it  was  proposed  to  purchase  the  Stock 
of  some  one  or  more  of  the  existing  Banks  for  the 
State. 

Acts  are  also  passed  to  charter  the  Maryland  Chemi- 
cal Works;  The  Vulcan  Furnace  Company,  and  the 
Independent  and  Vigilant  Fire  Engine  Companies- 


260 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1826 

The  administrations  of  the  civil  authorities  of  the 
City  and  County  are  further  divided,  and  half  of  the 
charges  for  repairs  of  the  joint  property  in  the  Court 
House  and  Jail  to  be  provided  for  by  each,  that  of  the 
Alms  House  being  so  already;  the  Levy  Court  and  the 
Commissioners  of  the  tax  for  the  city  and  for  the  county 
being  abolished;  three  commissioners  to  be  elected  an- 
nually,  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  county,  exclu- 
sively. Those  first  elected  are  George  Harryman,  Hen- 
ry Snowden,  and  John  T.  H.  Worthington,  Esqs. 

The  writer  had  while  county  Collector,  represented 
the  expenses  of  the  Commissioners  of  tax  a useless  bur- 
den; but  the  policy  of  limiting  the  number  of  Adminis- 
trators so  much,  when  it  appears  that  from  some  influ- 
ence or  another,  many  candidates  present  themselves, 
may  be  considered  doubtful  if  not  pernicious. 

The  fees  of  officers  of  Courts  had  been  subject  to 
taxation  by  some  late  acts,  which  are  repealed  at  this 
Session,  and  a general  scale  of  fees  established  in  dol- 
lars and  cents,  instead  of  tobacco,  including  those  for 
the  City  Court.  To  the  several  judges  of  this  Court, 
individually,  power  is  given  to  try  all  causes  where  no 
jury  is  required;  and  it  seems  now,  that  to  create  more 
independence  in  the  judges  and  stability  to  this  import- 
ant police  Court,  it  is  only  necessary  to  put  it  on  the 
constitutional  footing  of  other  Courts  in  the  State. 

The  Judges  of  this  Court  and  of  all  the  County 
courts,  are  directed  by  an  act  of  this  session  and  sup- 
plements, to  hear  complaints  against  Lunatics;  and,  on 
the  finding  of  a jury,  send  them  to  a Hospital,  or  to  the 
Alms  House,  if  paupers,  &c.  even  commit  them  as  oth- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


261 


1826] 

er  offenders,  if  no  bail  is  given.  These,  with  the  pow- 
ers of  the  Chancellor,  may  protect  society  as  well  as 
the  property  of  the  lunatics,  for  their  interests  generally, 
but  does  not  go  to  protect  their  persons  or  their  pro- 
perty, as  the  dictates  of  humanity  or  the  reputation  of 
our  Jurisprudence  would  seem  to  require.  Where  the  lu- 
natic dies  under  suspicious  circumstances,  there  are 
Coroner’s  juries,  which  may  indeed  bring  punishment 
as  a terror  to  other  offenders  in  cruelty,  but,  for  the 
helpless  living  object,  there  is  no  protecting  Law.  For 
the  want  of  some  authorized  registry  of  births  and 
deaths,  many  live  and  die  amongst  iVmericans  unknown 
to  society  generally,  or  to  the  Laws  of  the  Country. 

The  city  authorities  provide  for  the  building  of  a 
dredging  machine  by  steam  power  for  cleaning  the  har- 
bor, and  it  is  used  successfully  soon  after. 

Of  1,143,544  tons  shipping  of  the  United  States,  it 
appears  that  84,905  belong  to  Baltimore,  and  upon  the 
application  of  the  Assembly,  a survey  of  the  harbor  is 
made  by  the  general  Government,  with  a view  to  the 
establishment  of  a Navy  Yard;  so  far  the  result  has 
been  unfavorable,  the  United  States  possessing  no  oth- 
er property  here  than  a Custom  House,  which  cost 
$70,000;  hiring  a Post  Office,  Warehouses,  Hospitals, 
&c.  But  about  $85,000  have  been  received  from  the  gen- 
eral Government  since  1816,  on  account  of  principal 
and  interest  on  the  City’s  advances  during  the  last  war. 

On  the  20th  of  July  a procession  was  formed,  and 
an  oration  delivered  by  General  S.  Smith,  attended  by 
the  public  authorities,  near  the  Washington  Monu- 
ment, in  honor  of  the  memories  of  John  Adams  and 


262 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1826 

Thomas  Jefferson,  who  died  at  their  respective  homes 
on  the  fourth,  at  very  advanced  ages  and  much  respect- 
ed in  their  private  as  well  as  in  their  public  lives. 

The  Legislature  re-elect  General  Smith  a member  of 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  this  session.  There 
was  no  change  in  the  Delegation  to  Congress,  but  the 
time  of  election  was  protracted  thereafter,  so  that  this 
election  now  takes  place  immediately  before  the  meet- 
ing of  Congress,  and  not  the  year  before  the  members 
elect  take  their  seats,  as  it  did,  unless  when  assembled 
before  the  annual  elections,  when  the  Governor  is  to 
order  an  election. 

U.  S.  Heath  and  R.  Johnston,  Esqs.  are  elected 
members  of  the  11th  Senate  of  the  State,  but  on  the 
resignation  of  the  latter  two  years  after,  General  J.  S. 
Smith  is  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  that  body. 

Colonel  Jacob  Small  is  elected  Mayor,  John  Strieker, 
Esq.  is  chosen  a member  of  the  House  of  Delegates,  in 
the  place  of  B.  C.  Howard,  Esq.  W.  G.  D.  Worthing- 
ton Esq.  is  appointed  a commissioner  of  insolvents,  in 
the  place  of  R.  W.  Allen,  Esq.  resigned;  in  1830, 
M’Clintock  Young  and  Richard  Frisby,  Esqs.  are  ap- 
pointed in  the  place  of  Messrs.  Eighelberger  & Schriver. 

On  the  10th  of  July  died  at  New  York,  Luther  Mar- 
Esq.  in  the  83d  year  of  his  age.  The  deceased  had 
been  a member  of  the  National  Convention,  where  he 
opposed  the  constitution  in  1789,  and  a long  time  be- 
fore and  after  had  been  the  talented  Attorney  General 
of  this  State. 

At  his  seat  near  this  city,  on  the  26th  of  September, 
Captain  R.  T.  Spence,  of  the  United  States  Navy;  and 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


263 


1826] 

on  the  30th,  an  order  was  received  from  the  Navy  De- 
partment to  celebrate  the  memory  of  a commander  who 
was  as  distinguished  by  his  literary  acquirements  and 
the  virtues  of  private  life,  as  in  the  duties  of  his  pro* 
fession.  And  in  this  city,  from  a fall  in  a warehouse, 
Colonel  Paul  Bentalou,  Marshall  of  the  district,  in 
which  place  he  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  Finley  Esq. 

Whole  number  of  deaths  reported  here  in  the  year 
1826,  was  1922,  of  whom  889  were  under  10  years, 
and  111  above  70  years  of  age  including  429  free  col- 
ored, and  97  slaves ; greatest  number 277  in  July;  least 
115  in  November;  306  of  Consumption,  224  Fevers  and 
21  of  Intemperance. 

State  Conventions  are  held  here  by  the  Advocates 
and  by  the  Opponents  of  the  administration  of  the  gen- 
eral government. 

William  Patterson,  Esq.  gives  a lot  of  his  ground, 
part  of  Fell’s  Prospect,  on  the  elevation  east  of  the  im- 
proved parts  of  the  City,  for  a public  square  and  the  re- 
creation of  the  citizens,  which  the  Mayor  and  City  Coun- 
cil occupy,  and  soon  after  inclosed  and  otherwise 
improved,  according  to  the  liberal  intentions  of  the 
donor. 

On  the  opening  of  the  subscription  here  in  March, 
there  was  more  stock  taken  for  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Rail  Road  than  required,  and  the  commissioners  partly, 
with  Mesrs.  Carroll,  Oliver  and  others  elected  directors, 
who  chose  Mr.  Philip  E.  Thomas  their  president  the 
following  month. 


264  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1827 

According  to  a report  of  the  managers  of  the  Savings’ 
Bank  for  the  year,  there  were  deposits  of  $80  000 

Of  which  were  redrawn  44  000 

And  there  remained  invested  36  000 

Besides  the  dividends  paid  semi-annually  there  were 
declared  of  surplussages,  now  paid,  2 per  cent  on  one 
year’s,  4 per  cent  on  two  year’s,  and  6 per  cent  on 
three  year’s  deposits. 

A number  of  elections  occurring  on  the  first  Monday 
of  October,  rendered  a division  necessary,  and  those  for 
the  officers  of  the  City  are  directed  to  be  held  on  the 
third  Monday  of  the  same  month  for  the  future.  The 
district  for  electing  Electors  of  President  and  Vice  Presi- 
dent having  been  so  arranged  at  last  session,  that  the 
City  with  Annapolis  and  Anne  Arundel  county,  called 
the  4th  district,  elect  jointly  two  Electors.  At  the  same 
Session  Acts  were  passed  for  extending  Ensor  and 
Monument  streets,  and  now  other  acts  for  opening  Lom- 
bard street,  and  for  closing  Ruxton  Lane  and  French  or 
Euhlers  Alley,  all  of  which  are  carried  into  effect,  ex- 
cept the  provision  relating  to  the  Lane  and  Alley. 

Subscriptions  being  raised  to  aid  in  the  erection  of  a 
building  for  a Free  School,  upon  the  principles  contemp- 
lated by  the  will  of  the  late  John  Oliver,  Esq.  a lot  is 
procured  on  North  street  by  the  Hibernian  Society, 
and  a spacious  school  House  erected,  finished  and  occu- 
pied accordingly. 

In  April  and  May  the  Ladies  of  the  City  got  up  a 
Fair  and  an  Oratorio  in  handsome  and  successful  style, 
for  the  relief  of  the  suffering  inhabitants  of  Greece. 
This  method  of  raising  money  has  since  been  resorted 


1827]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  265 

to  for  objects  of  charity  nearer  home,  and  mostly,  with 
that  successful  effect  which  was  to  be  looked  for,  where 
so  much  beauty  as  our  city  may  justly  boast,  cannot 
be  displayed  in  public  walks  and  promenades  by  the 
gay  and  fashionable,  as  in  older  societies  and  places. 

On  the  1 5th  of  October,  President  Adams  returning 
from  the  eastward  is  invited  by  his  friends  and  accepts 
a dinner  at  Barnum’s  Hotel,  after  a visit  to  the  battle 
ground  of  the  12th  of  September.  The  President  ad- 
dressed the  company  in  a speech  of  much  erudition 
and  energy,  referring  to  the  galantry  of  the  Monument- 
al City,  and  in  the  evening  was  waited  on  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Eccleston,  Vice  President  of  St.  Mary’s  College 
with  the  Students,  to  whom  the  President  made  another 
address,  referring  the  Preceptor  to  the  fact  of  having 
occupied  a similar  station  himself,  and  the  youth  to  the 
examples  of  patriotism  furnished  by  the  histories  of 
Greece  and  Rome. 

The  Rev.  James  Brackenridge  sometime  the  associate 
of  the  Rev.  John  Glendy,  becomes  pastor  of  the  second 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  Rev.  F.  W.  P.  Green- 
wood successor  of  Mr.  Sparks,  pastor  of  the  Independ- 
ent Church  is  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Burnap. 

Dr.  Nathaniel  R.  Smith  is  appointed  to  the  chair  of 
Surgery  in  the  Medical  department  of  the  University  in 
the  place  of  Professor  Pattison  who  resigned,  and  on  the 
decease  of  Professor  Davidge  the  ensuing  year,  Dr. 
John  D.  Wells  succeeds  him  in  the  chair  of  Anatomy, 
who,  after  the  Lectures  of  the  ensuing  season,  also 
died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Benj.  Lincoln. 

U 


266 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1827 

Donations  were  made  and  other  aid  given  to  a society 
of  colored  persons  attached  to  the  rites  of  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church,  and  they  having  built  a house 
of  worship  in  North  street,  Bishop  Kemp  licensed  the 
Rev.  William  Levington,  colored,  to  officiate  thereat. 

Hugh  D.  Evans,  Esq.  published  an  essay  on  Plead- 
ing, and  J.  Y.  L.  M’Mahon,  Esq.  announces  his  inten- 
tion to  publish  an  Historical  View  of  the  Government 
of  Maryland. 

At  the  Session  of  Assembly  of  1827  an  act  is  passed 
similar  to  the  one  incorporating  the  Ohio  Rail  Road 
Company  to  incorporate  a Company  to  make  a Rail 
Road  to  the  Susquehanna  River,  as  far  as  the  same  can 
be  authorized  by  this  State,  and  Messrs.  C.  Ridgely  of 
Hampton,  Geo-  Winchester,  Thomas  Wilson,  James 
L.  Hawkins,  R.  L.  Colt,  S-  C.  Leakin,  Jacob  I.  Cohen, 
Justice  Hoppe,  J.  B.  Stansbury,  H.  W.  Evans,  Wm. 
Frick,  R.  Purviance  and  James  Smith  were  authori- 
zed to  receive  subscriptions  of  Stock  to  the  amount  of 
14,000  shares  of  $50  each,  two  thousand  shares  each 
reserved  for  the  States  of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and 
the  City  of  Baltimore,  the  whole  to  make  a capital  of 
$1,000,000. 

At  the  same  Session  the  Washington  and  Baltimore 
Turnpike  Road  Company  was  authorized  to  open  sub- 
scriptions and  make  a Rail  Road  to  the  District  of  Co. 
lumbia,  but  it  was  not  effected,  and  the  Ohio  Rail  Road 
Company  authorized  afterwards  to  make  a branch  road 
in  that  direction;  also,  to  a Company  to  make  a Rail 
Road  from  Frenchtown  towards  Newcastle. 

Among  other  Acts  passed  relating  to  the  City,  are 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


267 


1827] 

those  for  the  erection  of  solitary  cells  in  a new  wing 
of  the  Penitentiary;  for  the  appointment  by  the  Visitors 
of  a Warden  of  the  Jail,  superceding  the  authority  of 
the  Sheriff  there,  as  proposed  by  the  writer  hereof  ten 
years  before;  and  of  the  Auctioneers  by  the  Gover- 
nor and  Council  with  a tax  of  one  per  cent  on  sales 
in  the  city,  from  which  $20,000  are  to  be  applied  annual- 
ly if  so  much  is  raised,  to  deepening  the  harbor.  There 
were  at  the  same  period,  great  exertions  made  by  peti- 
tions to  Congress,  from  this  City  and  other  ports,  to 
restrict  the  Business  of  Auctioneers,  as  injurious  to 
trade  and  manufactures  generally,  but  without  success. 

The  Legislature  appropriate  3,500  dollars  per  an- 
num towards  educating  twenty  Deaf  and  Dumb  children 
of  the  City  and  Counties,  and  pass  Acts  of  incorpora- 
tion for  the  Female  Penitents’  Refuge  Society;  the 
Young  Men’s  Bible  Society;  the  Maryland  Company 
for  Insurance  on  Lives,  &c.  Neptune  Insurance  Com- 
pany; Mechanical  Fire  Company,  organized  before  the 
Revolution,  and  the  Lanvale  Manufacturing  Company, 
which  last  establishment,  situated  on  Jones’  Falls  and 
near  the  City,  had  been  commenced  without  a charter 
some  years  before,  by  other  proprietors. 

R.  H.  Douglass,  Esq.  is  appointed  Consul  from  Saxo- 
ny; Richard  W«  Gill,  Esq.  Vice  Consul  from  Colum- 
bia, and  Stephen  Lawson,  Esq.  Vice  Consul  from 
Sweeden;  General  George  H.  Stewart  and  John  V.  L 
M’Mahon,  Esqs.  are  elected  Delegates  to  the  Assem- 
bly, and  William  Ball,  Esq.  Sheriff. 

Colonel  Jacob  Hindman,  of  the  United  States’  Army, 
died  here  on  the  1 7th  of  March,  and  his  death  was  no- 


268 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1827 

ticed  in  special  orders  from  the  Commander  in  Chief, 
as  became  the  distinguished  merit  of  the  deceased, 
Soldier  and  Gentleman. 

On  the  12th  of  October,  Colonel  John  E.  Howard, 
who  had  been  Senator  in  Congress  and  Governor,  de- 
parted this  life  at  the  age  of  15  years  and  was  interred 
on  the  14th  with  civic  and  military  honors;  leaving  five 
children  and  a child  each  of  two  deceased,  to  divide  his 
property  in  this  City,  and  every  citizen  a share  in  the 
glory  he  acquired  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  Field,  the 
titles  to  which  have  been  partly  recorded  in  these 
Annals. 

And  on  the  26th  of  the  same  month  the  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  James 
Kemp,  D.  D.  returning  from  a Convention  held  in 
Philadelphia,  was  overturned  with  a stage  coach  and 
received  injuries  of  which  he  died  two  days  after,  aged 
62  years,  much  regretted  by  his  pastoral  flock,  and 
highly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him  for  his  private 
charities,  assiduous  piety  and  public  usefulness.  The 
Bishop  was  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  Provost  of  the 
University  and  President  of  the  Bible  Society  of  Mary- 
land, and  a zealous  officer  or  member  of  all  the  general 
Benevolent  Societies  of  the  City.  After  which  melan- 
choly event  Roger  B.  Taney,  Esq.  who  had  moved 
from  Frederick  to  Baltimore  some  time  before,  was 
elected  Provost;  and  sometime  after,  the  Bishop  was 
succeeded  in  the  Diocesan  Office  by  the  Right  Rev. 
William  Stone,  of  Kent  County. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wyatt  becomes  Rector 
of  St.  Paul’s,  and  the  Rev-  John  Johns  is  chosen  Rector 


1827]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  26 9 

of  Christ  Church,  for  which  a separate  Vestry  is  crea 
ted  by  law  the  next  year. 

The  winter  of  1827-8  threatened  to  be  severe,  but 
although  there  was  much  frost  and  some  snow  in  No- 
vember, the  weather  proved  afterwards  quite  mild  for 
the  season.  Shipping  continued  to  enter  and  depart 
without  intermission,  and  there  was  so  little  ice  made 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  City  that  many  of  the 
citizens  who  are  provided  with  ice  houses  and  lay  in 
quantities  of  that  useful  article  in  our  climate,  either 
for  their  own  consumption  or  for  sale,  were  disappointed 
in  getting  a supply.  Before  the  summer  was  half  over 
a trade  in  ice  from  the  Northern  States  took  place  for 
the  first  time,  and  several  cargoes  were  brought  here 
and  sold  for  about  a dollar  per  bushel. 

The  Courts  of  Justice  had  been  resorted  to  by  the 
Clergymen  and  the  Congregations  of  the  First  Baptists 
and  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  and  partial  separa- 
tions of  the  members  ensued  soon  after.  The  latter 
separatists  erect  a Church  on  Courtland  street,  but  those 
of  the  Baptist  Society  hire  places  of  Worship  from 
time  to  time.  ^ 

There  was  a division  among  the  German  Lutherans 
which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a Congregation 
whose  services  are  in  the  English  Language  and  they 
erect  a Church  on  Lexington  street,  of  which  the 
Rev.  J.  G.  Morris  is  chosen  minister. 

In  the  meantime  the  Rev.  Johannes  Ulhorn  is  asso- 
ciated in  the  German  Services  of  the  Old  Church  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Kurtz. 


2 70 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1828 

Another  division  took  place  amongst  the  Methodists 
on  account  of  the  Government  of  Travelling  Preach- 
ers established  by  Mr.  Wesley,  and  a considerable  num- 
ber of  the  Society  both  of  the  Clergy  and  the  Laity, 
adopt  a more  general  form,  and  purchase  the  Church 
of  St.  John  in  Liberty  Street,  whose  Minister  had  re- 
moved to  the  Western  Country  and  his  hearers  returned 
to  St.  Peter’s  generally;  and  also  the  Church  of  the  Cove- 
nanters in  which  the  Rev.  John  Gibson  had  officiated, 
in  Pitt  street,  and  this  Society  erect  another  in  Holli- 
day street.  And  there  now  happened  also  a division 
among  the  Society  of  Friends  or  Quakers,  on  account 
of  doctrines  introduced  as  it  was  said,  by  Mr.  Elias 
Hicks,  an  old  and  talented  Speaker  of  their  Society  on 
Long  Island,  and  the  Opponents  erect  a place  of  wor- 
ship on  Saratoga  street. 

On  the  opening  of  Subscriptions  in  March  for  the 
Baltimore  and  Susquehanna  Rail  Road,  much  more 
than  the  requisite  number  of  shares  were  taken  in  the 
City  besides  a few  Shares  at  York,  although  the  Legis- 
lature of  Pennsylvania  had  refused  to  aid  or  counte- 
nance the  undertaking  by  a continuance  of  the  contemp- 
lated Road  within  that  State.  George  Winchester,  Esq. 
was  chosen  President  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  who 
forthwith  commenced  the  necessary  surveys  as  far  as 
the  line  of  Maryland. 

Having  with  the  assistance  of  a Board  of  Engineers 
furnished  by  the  General  Government,  located  the  in- 
tended track  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail  Road  be- 
yond the  Falls  of  the  Patapsco  River  the  work  is  com- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


271 


1828] 

menced  on  the  fourth  of  July,  by  a grand  Procession 
of  Tradesmen,  Manufacturers,  Farmers  and  Merchants 
with  their  Standards  and  Implements,  and  the  laying  of 
the  first  stone  at  the  South-west  limits  of  the  City 
bounds.  This  was  performed  by  Charles  Carroll  of 
Carrollton,  Esq-  the  only  surviving  signer  of  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  then  near  ninety-three  years  of 
age,  to  whom  Congress  had  just  granted  the  privilege 
of  our  ex-Presidents  of  Franking  Letters,  and  who  the 
Colonization  Society  had  made  its  President  on  the  de- 
cease of  Judge  Washington. 

It  was  on  the  same  4th  of  July  the  rival  enterprize 
of  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal,  in  which  this  State 
and  City  are  both  greatly  interested,  was  commenced 
with  similar  ceremonies,  President  Adams  himself  first 
breaking  ground.  At  the  Session  just  terminated  Con- 
gress had  also  renewed  to  this  city  the  two  cents  per 
ton  duty  on  vessels  entering  here,  for  another  ten  years. 

Lawsuits  between  the  City  and  Messrs.  Cumberland 
Dugan  and  Isaac  M’Kim  had  been  long  pending;  the 
first  claiming  the  Wharfage  at  his  property  on  the 
West  side  of  Centre  Market  Dock,  and  the  latter  as  his 
property  on  the  East  side  of  Gay  street  Dock.  More 
recently  the  owners  of  Wharf  property  sue  the  City  for 
Damages  to  a considerable  amount  for  the  obstruction 
of  the  Navigation  on  the  Eastern  part  of  the  Point,  by  a 
diversion  of  the  washings  from  the  City  Dock  towards 
their  property,  none  of  which  suits  are  yet  finally 
decided. 

Benjamin  I.  Cohen  and  W.  F.  Small  Esqs.  erect 
those  two  handsome  houses  at  the  South-west  corner  of 


272  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1828 

Charles  and  Saratoga  streets  of  which  the  latter  was 
Architect. 

Mr.  Evan  Poultney  opens  a Banking  House  in  Bal- 
timore street  in  June,  on  the  principle  of  the  private 
Banks  in  Europe,  discounting  and  paying  interest  on 
deposits  on  his  own  account,  and  meets  with  that  suc- 
cess which  was  to  be  expected  by  a person  who  does 
not  become  a rival,  but  lends  his  own  funds  and  those 
which  are  voluntarily  entrusted  to  him  to  the  first  good 
customer,  without  other  preference  or  responsibility. 

Messrs.  Richard  Caton,  Charles  C.  Harper,  Evan 
Poultney  and  others,  having  estates  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  City,  form  a Society  and  procure  charter  privi- 
leges to  promote  the  culture  of  the  Vine  which  they  and 
others  had  cultivated  partially,  but  successfully,  as  ex- 
periments. 

A Company  is  formed  and  a charter  obtained  by 
Messrs.  Luke  Tiernan,  R.  H.  Osgood,  Joshua  Mezick 
and  others,  to  make  a Screw  Dock  for  repairing  Ships’ 
bottoms,  which  had  been  resorted  to  in  other  places  in 
lieu  of  careening  and  the  same  being  erected  at  Mr. 
Ramsay’s  Wharf,  Thames  street,  Fell’s  Point,  was 
soon  after  successfully  proved  by  the  raising  of  a 
vessel  of  260  tons. 

Messrs-  Francis  Price  and  Eli  Moore  of  New  York, 
for  themselves ; Messrs.  Lee,  Cooper  and  others  of  that 
city,  purchase  the  lands  east  and  west  of  Harris’ Creek, 
with  the  water  rights  on  the  north  side  of  the  north 
branch  of  the  Patapsco,  from  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Point  to  the  Lazaretto,  for  which  they  with  Messrs.  W. 
Patterson,  Columbus  O’Donnel,  Ebenezer  L.  Finley, 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


273 


18 28] 

W.  Gwynn  and  others  obtain  charter  rights  by  the  name 
of  the  Canton  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Gwynn  is  cho- 
sen President.  The  enterprize  was  intended  to  make 
an  addition  to  the  city,  though  called  Canton,  being  the 
name  of  the  principal  tract,  and  the  company  proceed 
to  clear  the  woods,  lay  out  streets,  squares  and  lots  cor- 
responding with  the  plan  adopted  by  the  Corporation  of 
the  City. 

By  an  Act  entitled  an  Act  for  the  despatch  of  busi- 
ness in  Baltimore  County  Court,  passed  at  the  Session 
of  this  year,  there  were  to  be  Terms  every  month  except 
two  for  Harford  county  in  the  months  of  March  and 
August^  those  of  April  and  November  to  be  county 
Terms  exclusively,  with  separate  Juries  for  City  and 
County.  The  powers  of  each  Judge  and  their  compen- 
sation are  extended  and  the  fees  of  jurymen  and  wit- 
neases  reduced,  and  separately  and  appropriately  charg- 
ed to  the  city  or  county  according  to  the  business  sever- 
ally. The  addition  of  $800  a year  to  our  Judges  was 
contingent  on  the  receipt  of  certain  fees,  and  if  other- 
wise no  way  proportionate  to  the  salaries  of  the  other 
Judges  of  the  State  Courts,  where  the  attendance  re- 
quired is  not  so  great  by  one  half  at  least,  nor  is  it 
afforded.  But  it  was  soon  found  that  the  Legislature 
had  imposed  too  great  tasks  on  the  Judges  and  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  reduce  the  Terms  to  four,  which 
took  place  soon  after- 

At  the  ensuing  Session  the  Courts  of  each  County 
are  authorized  to  appoint  Commissioners  to  take  depo- 
35 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


274 


[1828 


sitions  for  the  parties  intending  to  apply  for  divorces,  to 
be  returned  by  the  clerks  to  the  Legislature. 

Among  other  Laws  in  which  our  citizens  are  inter- 
ested are  those  chartering  the  American  Insurance  Com- 
pany, the  Maryland  and  Virginia  and  the  Baltimore 
and  Potomac  Companies;  the  Baltimore  Pittston  or 
Coal  Company;  the  Elysville  Manufacturing  Company; 
the  Baltimore  Flint  Glass  Company;  the  Maryland 
Mining^and  Maryland  Iron  Companies;  and  the  Phoenix 
Shot  Tower  Company,  who  erect  their  Tower  on  the 
North-east  corner  of  Front  and  Pitt  streets,  built  by 
Mr.  J.  Wolf,  circular,  and  23 4 feet  high.  It  may  be 
remarked  that  the  Legislature  began  to  doubt  the  pro- 
priety of  permanent  charters,  and  frequently  reserved  a 
right  in  the  State  to  regulate  and  even  to  tax  those 
Companies  during  their  charters  in  several  instances. 
On  some  recent  occasious  too,  the  long  exploded  me- 
thod of  perpetuating  trusts  of  a public  character,  by 
power  to  survivors  to  fill  vacancies  is  revived,  and  the 
number  of  such  Trustees  more  limited  than  they  have 
been  latterly,  all  which  may  be  justly  considered  im- 
provements in  our  Legislation. 

A proposition  was  made  in  the  Assembly  to  make 
the  Assessment  of  property  throughout  the  State  ac- 
cording to  the  real  or  current  value  thereof,  as  was  sug- 
gested by  the  writer  when  county  Collector,  but  the 
plan  failed;  on  the  other  hand  more  rigid  penalties  were 
provided  against  Bull  baiting,  Cock*  fighting  and  other 
acts  of  cruelty  towards  the  brute  creation,  still  perhaps 
deficient  in  practical  effect. 

The  decent  by  the  River  and  water  carriage  by  the 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


275 


18 28] 

Bay,  of  Flour,  Whiskey,  Timber  and  other  products  of 
Pennsylvania,  have  greatly  increased  and  will  probably 
continue  to  increase,  with  the  improvement  of  the  coun- 
try on  the  Susquehanna. 

Mr.  John  M’Kim  erects  a Chemical  Factory  on  the 
South  side  of  the  Harbor,  and  Mr.  G-  W.  Waite,  a Manu- 
facture of  Chocolate,  Mustard,  Ginger,  Castor  Oil,  &c. 
on  the  City  Block,  so  that  by  them  and  others,  many 
kinds  of  Medicinal  Drugs  and  Paints  are  furnished  be- 
yond the  home  demand. 

Mr.  Isaac  M’Kim  erects  a Foundry  for  casting  and 
rolling  Copper  by  the  Steam  power  prepared  for  his 
Flour  Mill  on  Gay  street  Wharf. 

The  Ship  Building  and  dependent  branches  have 
much  revived,  and  several  Vessels  of  burthen  and  beau- 
ty are  prepared  for  Baltimore  merchants,  sustaining  a 
credit  those  tradesmen  have  long  enjoyed.  It  may  now 
be  added,  that  new  establishments  for  other  vehicles  of 
transport,  such  as  Steam  Boats  and  Stage  Coaches, 
furnish  specimens  of  workmanship  and  taste  which  fairly 
rival  the  other. 

Charles  Walsh  Esq.  is  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
United  States’  Legation  to  Spain,  and  Henry  Wilson, 
Esq.  Marshal  in  Florida. 

At  the  election  of  Electors  for  President  and  Vice 
President  in  November,  there  was  an  aggregate  Poll  of 
9077  Votes  in  this  City,  and  an  aggregate  majority  in 
favor  of  Benjamin  C.  Howard  and  I.  Sellman,  Esqs. 
of  468,  which  was  reduced  by  the  Votes  of  Anne- Arun- 
del and  Annapolis,  the  rest  of  the  district,  to  815  Votes, 
favorable  to  General  Jackson,  who  was  elected. 


276 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1828 

Jacob  Small,  Esq.  Mayor,  and  General  George  H. 
Stewart  and  T-  V.  L.  M’Mahon,  Esq.  Delegates,  are 
all  re-elected;  and  George  H.  Richardson,  Esq.  who 
had  recently  established  himself  in  this  City,  is  chosen 
a Member  of  the  Executive  Council  of  the  State. 

Died  on  the  29th  of  January,  in  the  60th  year  of 
his  age,  the  Most  Reverend  Ambrose  Marechal,  Arch- 
bishop of  Raltimore,  to  whom  the  Roman  Catholic  So- 
ciety are  indebted  for  many  of  the  decorations  of  the 
Cathedral  Church,  which  he  consecrated.  He  was 
the  uniform  patron  of  all  the  Benevolent  Institutions 
belonging  to  his  Society,  and  greatly  esteemed  by  the 
citizens  at  large  for  his  pious  zeal  and  amenity  of  man- 
ners- The  Archbishop  was  succeeded  soon  after  by 
the  Most  Reverend  James  Whitfield,  who  had  assisted 
several  years  in  the  administration  of  religious  duties 
in  the  Cathedral. 

On  the  17th  of  July  departed  this  life  aged  63  years, 
John  Montgomery,  Esq.  late  Mayor  of  this  City  and 
one  of  the  Delegates  to  the  Assembly.  The  deceased 
had  formerly  represented  the  6th  District  of  this  State 
in  Congress  and  as  an  Officer  of  the  Baltimore  Artil- 
lery, distinguished  himself  by  his  gallantry  at  North 
Point. 

According  to  a report  made  by  the  Sunday  School 
Union,  there  are  in  the  City  56  Schools  for  Children 
and  Adults  of  different  sexes  and  colors, separately  held; 
and  at  the  annual  Procession  of  the  Children  this  year, 
the  number  was  estimated  at  4300,  and  not  all  attend- 
ing. This  is  an  undertaking  exempt  from  objections 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


277 


1829] 

which  may  be  raised  against  Free  Schools  generally,  in 
a Country  where  it  is  advisable  to  cultivate  sentiments 
of  self-respect  and  independence  in  those  who  are  Citi- 
zens, and  an  inclination  to  honest  labor  in  those  who 
may  become  Citizens,  without  a property  qualification. 

However  commendable  such  gratuitous  teaching 
might  be,  it  is  a relief  to  improvident  people,  while  no- 
thing is  done  for  the  succour  of  those  who  have  been 
carefully  educated  by  prudent  parents,  but  have  been 
reduced  in  circumstances  by  accident  or  misfortune,  and 
often  miserable,  when  they  are  too  old  to  begin  the 
world  again  and  provide  for  themselves. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  being  the  Centenary  Anni- 
versary of  the  passage  of  the  Law  for  laying  out  the 
Town  of  Baltimore,  the  first  stone  was  laid  by  Col. 
William  Steuart,  Deputy  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand 
Lodge,  with  appropriate  ceremony,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Baltimore  and  Susquehanna  Rail  Road, 
which  was  on  the  North-west  line  of  the  City  bounds; 
contracts  being  made  for  carrying  the  road  several 
miles  along  the  valley  of  Jones’  Falls,  in  that  direction. 

President  Jackson  was  invited  to  name  the  day  and 
assist  the  Managers  in  the  ceremony  of  opening  the 
Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Canal,  but  he  politely  de- 
clined and  tendered  the  Company  his  best  wishes*  This 
ceremony  took  place  in  presence  of  a great  many  Stock- 
holders and  others  on  the  17th  of  October,  and  the 
Canal  became  a common  route  for  passengers  and  mer- 
chandize between  the  two  Bays,  affecting  in  some  mea- 
sure the  supplies  of  this  City,  but  increasing  the  transpor- 
tation and  Commission  Business  to  an  equal  value  per- 


2 78 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1829 

haps;  and  certainly  conducing  to  the  common  defence  of 
the  Union,  if  not  to  the  immediate  profit  of  those  who 
had  contributed  to  its  immense  cost. 

On  the  14th  of  December,  thirty-seven  persons  are 
drawn  by  one  horse,  in  a Car  with  four  friction  wheels 
planned  by  Mr.  Ross  Winans,  of  New  Jersey,  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail  Road,  at  the  rate  of  about  ten 
miles  per  hour,  or  as  fast  as  the  horse  could  trot  or  gal- 
lop; which  was  done  in  the  presence  and  to  the  aston- 
ishment of  a multitude  of  spectators,  who,  not  having 
witnessed  such  an  exhibition,  could  scarcely  realize  the 
effect.  One  track  of  Bar-Iron  Rails,  imported  duty 
free,  fastened  on  pine  scantling  and  supported  by  cross 
sills  of  locust  and  cedar,  had  been  completed  from  a 
Depot  on  the  West  end  of  Pratt  street  to  Gwinn’s  Falls, 
after  very  extensive  excavations  and  fillings  on  the 
route.  There  a Bridge  26a  feet  wide  and  330  feet  long, 
the  span  of  the  Arch  being  80  feet  4 inches,  and  the 
height  82  feet  from  the  foundation  to  the  top  of  the 
Parapet,  was  built  by  Mr-  Lloyd,  of  granite,  faced 
and  jointed,  and  called  the  Carrollton  Viaduct;  forming 
one  of  the  best  and  finest  structures  among  the  many 
which  ornament  our  City  and  Environs.  Another  track 
partly  on  sills  of  Freestone,  and  more  extended  Viaduct 
over  Patapsco  River  from  the  East  to  the  West  mar- 
gin, which  are  used  several  miles,  are  made  soon  after. 
Thus  has  the  Company’s  wealth  been  appropriated  to 
present  uses,  as  well  as  to  serve  and  gratify  posterity, 
inasmuch  as  the  workmanship  is  both  durable  and  hand- 
some; and  it  is  confidently  believed  the  cheap  arid  rapid 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


2 79 


1829] 

conveyance  by  the  road,  will  render  the  extremities 
within  a reduced  and  trifling  distance,  as  it  were. 

On  appropriating  to  State  purposes  the  proceeds  of 
licensed  Lotteries  generally,  the  Legislature  granted 
certain  portions  amounting,  with  the  profits  of  former 
Lotteries  to  $178,000,  for  the  completion  of  the  Wash- 
ington Monument  in  this  City;  enacting  that  the  struc- 
ture should  be  considered  the  property  of  the  State,  and 
that  it  should  have  an  inscription  expressive  of  the 
gratitude  of  Maryland  to  the  Hero  and  Statesman  whose 
honor  and  memory  the  monument  was  intended  to  per- 
petuate. This  enabled  the  Managers  to  proceed  with 
the  Artists,  and  on  the  28th  of  November  was  raised 
the  Pedestrian  Statue  of  the  man  who  was  declared  to 
be  “first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of 
his  Countrymen.”  It  was  cut  out  of  fine  white  marble 
from  the  Quarries  on  the  York  Road,  presented  by 
Mrs.  F.  T.  D.  Taylor,  the  owner,  and  placed  on  the 
top  of  the  Column  in  the  presence  of  admiring  thou- 
sands of  both  sexes,  from  town  and  Country.  The 
Statue  is  16  feet  high  and  was  wrought  in  three  sepa- 
rate pieces  from  one  block  of  36  tons,  by  Henrico  Cau- 
cici,  Esq.  an  Italian  Sculptor  of  merit;  each  block 
weighing  about  5 = tons  when  worked,  and  elevated  suc- 
cessively by  means  of  a pair  of  Shears  attached  to  the 
Cap  of  the  Column,  by  Pulleys  and  Capstan,  planned 
and  directed  by  Captain  James  D-  Woodside,  of  Wash- 
ington, without  any  delay  or  accident. 

A plain  but  commodious  residence  is  prepared  for 
the  Archbishop  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  his 
successors,  which  with  the  enclosure  occupies  the  whole 


280 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE 


[1829 

front  on  Charles  street  of  the  Cathedral  Lot.  It  is 
built  of  brick  according  to  designs  furnished  by  Wm.  F. 
Small,  Esq.  and  stuccoed.  The  present  Archbishop 
was  a principal  contributor  to  the  expense,  and  has 
caused  the  surrounding  ground  to  be  laid  out  and  plant- 
ed in  an  appropriate  style. 

Wm.  Howard,  Esq.  commences  his  splendid  Mansion 
of  Brick  painted,  at  the  Corner  of  Franklin  and  Charles 
streets,  of  which  he  gave  himself  the  plan  with  that  of 
an  elegant  Portico  and  Pediment  supported  by  lofty 
Marble  Columns,  one  of  which  remains  an  entire  piece; 
and  Charles  Howard,  Esq.  his  handsome  and  extensive 
dwelling  on  the  North-east  corner  of  Washington  Place; 
making  with  his  co-heirs  and  the  sanction  of  the  Legis- 
lature, an  arrangement  with  the  Corporation  of  the  City, 
to  widen  Charles  from  Centre  to  Madison  street  to  150 
feet,  and  Monument  from  St.  Paul’s  to  Cathedral  street, 
to  200  feet,  forming  thus  two  spacious  avenues  traver- 
sing that  Square,  and  increasing  the  area  around  the 
Monument  in  that  proportion. 

Several  double  rows  of  Shops  had  been  erected  in 
passages  opening  into  Centre  Market,  but  now  Mr.  Ja- 
cob Daley  and  Associates  complete  two-story  rows  in 
better  style,  from  Harrison  street  to  the  Falls,  commu- 
nicating with  Pitt  street  on  the  other  side  by  means  of 
a Foot  Bridge  licensed  by  the  City  Authorities;  to 
which  improvement  the  proprietors  give  the  name  of 
Bazaar.  Although  it  is  desirable  to  have  places  of 
general  and  safe  resort  for  business  or  pleasure,  and 
gratifying  to  find  such  enterprize  and  taste  rewarded 
by  success,  where  they  tend  to  restrict  the  open 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


281 


1827] 

ground  and  air  at  the  risk  of  the  general  health,  or  in- 
jurious to  the  value  of  property  as  costly  elsewhere, 
the  multiplication  of  such  establishments  will  be  dis- 
couraged rather  than  promoted. 

The  house  which  Mr.  Peale  had  erected  for  his 
Exhibition  of  Natural  History  and  the  Fine  Arts,  is 
sold  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  for  their  future  ac- 
commodation, and  from  a Museum  becomes  a City 
Hall;  the  former  establishment  being  transferred  to  the 
extensive  brick  building  on  the  North-west  corner  of 
Calvert  and  Baltimore  streets. 

The  Farmers  and  Merchants’  Banking  Company 
erect  a Banking  House  on  Calvert  street,  between  the 
above  mentioned  building  and  Barnum’s  Hotel ; and  the 
Savings  Institution  erect  a Banking  House  at  the  South- 
east corner  of  North  and  Fayette  streets. 

It  was  proposed  in  the  City  Council  and  Philip  Law- 
renson,  Esq.  on  behalf  of  a Committee,  recommended 
the  introduction  of  Fresh  Water  for  the  supply  of  the 
citizens,  by  the  purchase  of  the  water  rights  at  and  be- 
low the  Calverton  Mills,  and  canalling  a sufficient  body 
of  G winn’s  Falls  to  the  elevated  grounds  on  the  West 
of  the  City  improvements,  at  the  expense  of  the  Cor- 
poration, in  preference  to  the  purchase  of  the  Water 
Works  and  Reservoirs  of  the  Water  Company  which 
were  tendered  at  cost.  This  would  be  as  likely  to  aug- 
ment and  perpetuate  the  draining  of  the  useful  and  or- 
namental water  course  of  the  latter  Falls,  as  the 
project  of  diverting  that  stream  from  its  natural  bed 
through  the  centre  of  the  present  improvements,  an 
36 


282  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1829 

advantage  which  no  other  of  our  Sea-ports  enjoys,  into 
a course  which  those  improvements  may  reach  hereaf- 
ter, as  proposed  after  the  Freshet  of  1817;  but  neither 
was  agreed  to:  Nor  was  another  proposition  suggested 
by  the  writer  and  applied  for  by  many  Petitioners,  as 
well  to  improve  the  Police  of  our  overgrown  Market  as 
to  accommodate  the  families  and  tenants  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, to  erect  a new  Market  House  on  or  adjacent 
to  the  property  of  the  Water  Company  and  for  which 
that  Company  offered  gratis,  a valuable  piece  of 
ground  on  Franklin  street  from  Calvert  to  Holliday 
street.  The  cost  of  filling  estimated  at  $3000  was  the 
avowed  obstacle  to  the  acceptance;  so  when  he  had  as- 
certained that  a Topographical  plan  of  the  County  and 
its  improvements  much  desired,  could  be  furnished  for 
about  a similar  sum,  this  also  produced  a failure.  At 
no  distant  day  perhaps,  these  and  all  such  endeavors  to 
improve  the  Government  of  the  City,  or  promote  the 
health  of  its  Inhabitants  may  be  crowned  with  success; 
in  the  meantime  these  Annals  record  so  many  measures 
effected  eventually  which  were  barely  talked  of  sometime 
before,  that  the  most  obscure  individual  seeking  either 
the  public  good  or  his  own  gratification,  must  find  in 
the  result  ample  encouragement  to  persevere. 

Societies  are  formed  similar  to  those  in  the  Northern 
and  Eastern  States,  to  receive  and  instruct  Children  at 
early  ages,  and  others  to  discourage  the  excessive  use 
of  ardent  spirits,  by  total  abstinence  on  the  part  of  the 
members  from  all  such  drinks;  and  another  to  establish 
a house  of  Refuge  for  juvenile  delinquents;  which  last 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


283 


1829] 

receives  the  patronage  of  the  Legislature  by  a contin- 
gent appropriation  of  a large  sum  of  money. 

Among  the  Laws  of  the  last  Session  interesting  to 
us,  were  those  for  the  inspection  of  Fire-wood  in  Wood 
Yards,  and  the  formation  of  a new  Rifle  Regiment. 

Charters  are  granted  for  a Congregation  of  Jews;  the 
Theatre  and  Circus  erected  on  Front  street  by  Messrs. 
Wildey,  Gross  and  others;  the  Baltimore  and  Rappa- 
hannock Steam  Packet  Company;  the  Sugar  Refining 
Company  and  the  Howard  Fire  Company,  increasing 
the  number  of  Hose  and  Fire  Companies  in  the  City 
to  fourteen. 

Plans  are  adopted  by  the  Council  of  the  City  for  ex- 
tending or  widening  Bowly’s  and  South  street  Wharves, 
which  was  to  increase  the  Landing  at  the  expense  of 
the  Navigation,  the  proprietors  accommodated  aban- 
doning all  claim  to  Wharfage  and  paying  some  part  of 
the  expense.  It  would  be  well  to  consider  at  a time 
when  the  clearing  out  of  the  Harbor  is  so  expensive 
and  the  water  in  the  Falls  and  the  Basin  has  become 
so  stagnant  and  perhaps  unhealthy,  if  the  project  of 
walling  in  and  deepening  the  bed  of  the  Falls  and 
opening  landings  on  its  banks,  as  proposed  in  an  Act 
of  1817,  and  of  doing  the  same  with  a Canal  into  the 
Middle  Branch,  provided  for  by  a Law  above  forty 
years  ago,  would  not  at  once  relieve  and  benefit  the 
whole  City,  when  carried  into  effect. 

A convict  of  the  County  made  his  escape  from  the 
Penitentiary  and  was,  with  two  sti  angers  lately  dischar- 
ged, engaged  in  some  daring  but  unsuccessful  acts  of 
Felony  and  of  an  attack  on  the  Mail  near  Philadelphia 


284  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1829 

where  they  were  tried  and  one  of  the  latter  condemned 
and  executed. 

On  the  night  of  the  29th  of  December,  the  Steam 
Sugar  Refinery  of  D.  L.  Thomas,  Esq.  was  destroyed 
by  Fire,  bringing  ruin  and  desolation  on  a worthy  citi- 
zen and  family. 

John  S.  Skinner,  Esq.  commences  the  publication  of 
“The  Turf  Register,”  and  soon  after  transfers  “The 
American  Farmer”  to  G.  B-  Smith,  Esq.  by  whom  it 
is  continued. 

William  Wirt,  Esq.  late  Attorney  General  of  the 
United  States,  moves  to  and  settles  with  his  family  in 
this  City  where  he  had  often  displayed  his  talents  at 
the  Bar  before. 

Establishments  are  got  up  in  and  near  the  City  for 
making  Cotton  Canvass  and  for  printing  low  priced 
Cottons,  with  some  success.  Of  the  first  article,  how- 
ever, the  Jersey  Manufacturers,  and  cf  the  latter,  and 
even  in  plain  Cottons  of  which  we  manufacture  so 
much,  the  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts  people 
rival  if  not  surpass  us  in  our  own  Market. 

It  may  here  be  the  place  to  observe  in  relation  to  the 
Home  Market  for  our  staple  of  Flour  created  by  the 
number  of  Manufactures,  reducing  the  Exportation 
of  that  article,  which  would  appear  to  be  the  case 
from  a mere  comparison  of  the  quantity  returned  by  the 
Public  Inspectors  with  that  reported  as  exported  by 
the  Custom  House,  the  former  being  actually  about 
double  the  latter;  that  such  has  been  the  proportion 
thus  stated,  for  many  years  and  certainly  long  before  the 
adoption  of  a Tariff  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  protec- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


285 


1829] 

tion,  or  the  erection  here  of  extensive  Manufactories.  If 
there  is  an  increase  of  consumption  among  us  or  of 
Shipments  coastwise,  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of 
the  article  in  our  Market,  it  is  because  there  is  an 
increase  of  City  population  generally  and  of  Shipments 
made  as  returns  by  our  Northern  Navigators,  or  of 
the  cultivation  of  more  Tobacco  and  Cotton  in  lieu  of 
subsistences  by  the  Southern  Planters.  The  quantity 
of  Whiskey  entered  for  exportation  at  our  Custom 
House,  bears  no  proportion  to  that  inspected  here  an- 
nually; and  though  it  is  feared  we  use  our  full  share 
of  the  intoxicating  liquid,  yet  it  would  be  as  illiberal 
as  it  would  be  unjust  to  charge  us  with  the  consump- 
tion of  the  apparent  balance. 

This  may  also  be  the  place  and  time  to  invite  the 
attention  of  the  citizens  of  Baltimore  and  the  State  too, 
to  the  value  of  the  Revenue  derived  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  from  our  Custom  House. 
It  would  seem  that  our  advantageous  locality  for  com- 
merce had  assisted  the  State  of  Maryland  to  accumulate 
a very  respectable  Capital  from  very  moderate  Imposts. 
And  this  in  the  short  interval  between  the  recog- 
nition of  our  Independence  with  the  general  peace  of 
1783,  and  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  with 
the  transfer  of  this  source  of  revenue  to  that  Govern- 
ment in  1 788, which  has  received  from  it  nearly  a million 
of  dollars  annually  ever  since;  but  of  which  a small 
portion  is  restored  to  the  State  or  City  by  the  disburse- 
ments of  that  Government,  perhaps  the  greatest  part  of 
that  small  portion  indirectly  only,  through  the  expendi- 
tures of  the  Executive  and  Congress  in  that  corner  of 


286 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


[1829 

the  State  ceded  to  them ; when  the  whole  at  the  rates 
of  duty  exacted,  might  have  made  the  State  one  of  the 
richest  in  the  Confederacy ; riches  which,  liberally  or 
impartially  distributed  by  our  Legislature,  would  have 
prevented  Baltimore  not  only  from  losing  the  rank  it 
once  held  among  its  neighbors,  but  elevated  it  at  least 
as  fast  and  as  much  as  any  of  them.  We  have  there- 
fore a powerful  inducement  to  strive  for  an  influence  in 
the  Government  of  the  Union,  somewhat  proportionate 
not  only  to  the  means  we  contribute,  but  to  the  attach- 
ment and  fidelity  towards  it  we  have  sincerely  felt  and 
constantly  manifested. 

Charles  Browning,  Esq.  a sister’s  son  of  Frederick 
the  last  Lord  Baltimore,  came  here  and  procured  suits 
to  be  instituted  in  the  Court  of  the  United  States, 
against  some  of  the  largest  Proprietors  on  each  shore, 
to  recover  an  alleged  interest  in  arrearages  of  the  Pro- 
prietary’s former  estate  in  Maryland,  and  the  State  hav- 
ing previously  confiscated  the  Manors  reserved,  and 
vested  the  patented  lands,  including  of  course  the  Town 
Lots,  in  the  possessors,  free  and  clear  of  Quit  rent  or 
any  such  charge,  even  to  its  own  use  and  so  far  aban- 
doning the  right  of  sovereignty  in  the  people  at  large 
in  favor  of  the  Landholders,  took  part  with  them  and 
on  the  petition  of  the  parties  sued,  furnished  council  to 
assist  in  their  defence.  Upon  the  cause  being  carried 
up  to  the  Supreme  Court  by  consent, it  was  ascertained 
that  the  claim  was  barred  by  a compromise  long  before 
made  between  Mr.  Browning’s  parents  and  the  Pro- 
prietary, and  so  the  Court  decided. 

Charles  C.  Harper,  Esq.  is  appointed  Secretary  of 


1829]  * ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  2 87 

the  American  Legation  to  France,  and  follows  the  new 
Minister  Mr.  Rives,  to  Paris. 

Colonel  James  Mosher  is  appointed  Surveyor  of  this 
Port  in  the  place  of  Colonel  Lowry;  Captain  Isaac 
Phillips  is  appointed  Navy  Agent  in  the  place  of  Mr. 
Beatty;  Lyde  Goodwin,  Esq.  is  appointed  one  of  the 
Appraisers  of  Imports,  and  Dabney  S.  Carr,  Esq.  is 
appointed  Naval  Officer  in  the  place  of  Major  Barney. 

Alfred  Bujac,  Esq.  is  appointed  Consul  from  the 
Sicilies;  T.  I.  Bizouard,  Esq.  succeeds  Mr.  Cubi,  Vice 
Consul  from  Rome,  and  Manuel  Valdor,  Esq.  Consul 
from  Sardinia  becomes  Vice'  Consul  from  Spain,  on 
the  removal  to  Philadelphia  of  the  Chevalier  Bernabue, 
appointed  Consul  General. 

Peter  Little  and  James  Harwood,  Esqs.  are  appointed 
Judges  of  the  Orphans’  Court  by  the  Executive  of  this 
State,  in  the  places  of  Messrs.  Randall  and  Moore ; Mr. 
Little  declining,  Henry  Payson  Esq.  is  appointed  to 
the  vacancy,  but  Mr.  Randall  is  restored,  and  re-enters 
the  Court  with  Mr.  Joseph  R.  Ford  early  in  1830,  in 
the  places  of  Messrs.  Harwood  and  Payson. 

Benjamin  C.  Howard  and  Elias  Brown,  Esqs.  are 
elected  to  Congress  for  the  District  composed  of  the 
City  and  County,  in  the  places  of  Messrs.  Litttle  and 
Barney- 

Jesse  Hunt  and  John  Spear  Nicholas,  Esqs.  are 
elected  City  Delegates  to  the  General  Assembly. 

On  the  19th  of  April  died  Edward  Johnson  Esq. 
late  Mayor  of  this  City  and  formerly  a Judge  of  the 
County  Court,  much  regretted  by  his  friends  and  highly 
respected  by  the  public  for  his  amiable  deportment  and 


288 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


patriotism.  And  on  the  17th  of  July,  aged  69  years, 
Qharles  Ridgley,  of  Hampton,  Esq.  formerly  General 
of  the  14th  Brigade  of  Maryland  Militia,  Senator  and 
Governor  of  the  State;  leaving  his  property  except  the 
Hampton  establishment  inherited  by  the  eldest  sur- 
viving son,  to  the  younger  son,  four  daughters  and  the 
children  of  two  others,  deceased,  and  their  freedom  to 
all  his  slaves  between  the  ages  of  twenty-five  and  forty- 
five. 

Having  reached  the  completion  of  the  hundredth  year 
of  the  Annals  of  his  native  place,  the  Annalist  proceeds 
to  take  leave  of  the  reader  by  referring  him  to  some  ta- 
bles annexed,  showing  in  one  view  the  great  and  rapid 
growth  of  Baltimore.  To  such  however  as  are  recent 
settlers  and  especially  to  entire  strangers,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  explain  a few  terms  which  are  peculiar, 
and  some  matters  of  greater  interest  not  known  to 
others  but  familiar  to  us.  The  streams  were  called 
Falles  or  Falls  by  Governor  Smith  of  Virginia,  who 
first  explored  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  probably  because 
the  waters  fell  over  rocks  or  precipices  until  they  met 
the  tide,  where  they  become  and  are  called  Rivers. 
The  points  of  land  stretching  into  the  Bay  and  divide 
them,  have  been  and  are  still  called  Necks.  Among 
us  the  West  or  upper  part  of  the  Harbor  is  called  Ba- 
sin, because  it  is  a pond  open  on  one  side  only  and 
surrounded  by  hills  which  preserve  much  stillness  on 
the  surface  of  the  water;  indeed  the  ebbing  or  flowing 
of  the  tide,  which  at  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  is  about 
five  feet,  loose  their  effects  gradually,  until  here  they 
are  governed  by  the  wind  more  than  any  other  percep- 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


289 


1829] 

tible  cause.  FelVs  Point  on  the  east  of  the  first  Town* 
once  almost  an  island,  long  separated  by  an  open 
common  and  still  the  chief  resort  of  Seamen,  has  be- 
come as  much  a part  of  the  City  in  which  it  was 
always  included,  civilly  and  politically,  as  any  other 
district. 

Situated  in  39  degrees  17  minutes  of  Northern  Lati- 
tude, at  about  .200  miles  by  the  course  of  the  River  and 
Ray,  from  the  sea,  somewhat  greater  distance  from  the 
Ohio  and  Lake  Erie,  about  800  miles  from  each  ex- 
tremity of  the  Coast  of  the  United  States  and  only  36 
miles  from  the  Capital,  our  position  may  be  considered 
central.  Though  the  continent  is  destitute  of  Volca- 
noes and  we  have  no  mountains  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  to  affect  our  Atmosphere,  we  experience  as  do 
our  neighbors,  the  heat  of  a parallel  Latitude  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe  and  the  cold  of  England,  twelve 
degrees  further  north  from  the  Equator,  alternately;  the 
changes  being  also  more  rapid  and  violent  with  us. 
Actual  meteorological  observations  on  the  Western 
border  of  the  City,  recorded  by  Lewis  Brantz,  Esq. 
present  the  general  phenomena  of  our  climate  in  a fa- 
vorable aspect;  for  instance,  in  the  years  1817  1819, 

inclusive,  the  first  being  a year  of  Locusts  and  the  last 
of  Yellow  Fevers,  there  were  245  fair  days,  206  days 
of  wind  in  the  North-west  and  South-east  quarters,  the 
opposite  quarters  being  known  as  the  most  wet  or  sultry 
winds;  the  greatest  cold  5 degrees  and  greatest  heat  94, 
the  mean  temperature,  like  the  spring  water,  a little 
above  52  degrees  of  Fahrenheit’s  Thermometer;  the 
37 


290  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1829 

range  of  the  Barometer,  one  inch  thirty-nine  hundredths, 
and  the  water  fallen  36  and  a half  inches  on  an  aver- 
age, annually. 

Whatever  the  extremes  may  be,  the  writer  is  not  of  the 
number  of  those  who  indulge  in  reports  of  experienced 
changes  in  the  course  of  a moderate  life;  he  is  of  the 
opinion  that  there  neither  has  been  nor  will  be,  from 
cultivation  or  other  common  cause,  such  reduction  of 
heat  or  cold  as  others  fancy  there  has  been,  while  the 
tropical  winds  are  brought  on  our  Coast  with  the  Gulph 
Stream  and  the  Northern  Lakes  are  covered  by  ice  near 
half  the  year.  Nor  does  he  believe  that  an  exchange 
for  the  climate  of  any  other  habitable  part  of  the  Globe 
should  be  desired,  and  this  for  reasons  like  those 
which  follow. 

We  have  in  some  measure,  the  warm  summer  which 
produces  such  rapid  vegetation  in  part  of  Russia  sub- 
ject to  greater  cold,  and  our  Markets  present  in  their 
seasons  the  hardy  Apple  and  Potatoe  and  the  tender 
Apricot  and  Cauliflower.  The  quality  of  our  water 
fowl  and  fish  is  excellent,  particularly  the  wild  Duck, 
Mackarel  and  Shell  Fish,  which  last  seem  to  grow  in 
quantity  with  our  growth.  Long  after  our  Town  was 
laid  out,  the  Inhabitants  were  taxed  to  raise  premiums 
for  killing  Beasts  and  Birds  of  prey,  which  it  was  the 
interest  of  every  body  to  destroy,  and  with  them  have 
partially  disappeared  the  Deer,  Pheasants  or  Partridges 
and  Quails,  but  of  the  latter  we  have  occasionally  a 
great  abundance  even  from  Baltimore  County,  as  well 
as  veal  and  butter;  our  venison  comes  from  the  upper 
branches  of  the  Potomac,  from  whence  also  we  receive 


ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE. 


2 91 


1829] 

the  greatest  quantity  of  good  Beef  and  Mutton  either 
slaughtered  or  on  the  hoof,  and  though  immense  droves 
of  Hogs  are  sent  here  from  the  borders  of  the  Ohio,  we 
esteem  the  Bacon  raised  and  cured  in  the  neighborhood 
and  other  side  of  the  Bay  equal  to  the  most  celebrated 
of  France  or  Germany.  Our  White  Wheat  and  Yel- 
low Tobacco,  both  lighter  in  substance  as  they  are  in 
color,  command  the  highest  prices.  We  receive  by  water 
great  quantities  of  Coal  and  Fire-wood,  of  which  the  use 
is  nearly  equally  divided.  All  these  necessaries  and  luxu- 
ries are  less  costly  than  formerly,  for  if  our  agricultural 
improvements  have  not  kept  pace  with  the  Town  popu- 
lation and  consumption  our  means  of  communication 
have;  and  so  continuing,  with  the  extent  of  Country  to 
which  we  have  cheap  access  by  the  Bay  and  Rivers 
emptying  into  it,  we  should  as  grateful  recipients  anti- 
cipate no  future  deficiency. 

Risen  with  rapidity  as  Baltimore  has,  it  was  not  un- 
til lately  that  the  native  Inhabitants  out-numbered  the 
Foreigners,  who  are  mostly  emigrants  from  Germany 
and  Ireland;  and  whatever  difference  there  was  in  the 
complexions  or  figures  of  the  Citizens  before,  those 
which  are  now  presented  more  generally  among  us, 
bear  the  appearance  of  Americans,  as  if  all  descended 
from  a common  stock,  the  prevalence  of  ruddy  faces  and 
robust  forms  has  given  way  to  paler  tints  and  lighter 
persons;  nor  do  they  appear  less  favored  with  health 
and  long  life,  than  is  known  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  emi- 
grants, while  they  preserve  the  temperate  and  industri- 
ous habits  of  their  ancestors. 


292  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  [1829 

If  there  is  any  excess  in  the  reports  of  mortality  from 
the  list  of  interments  published  annually,  it  may  be 
accounted  for  in  the  facts,  that  the  free  people  of  color 
who  compose  the  greater  portion  of  our  common  labor- 
ers and  family  servants,  being  like  those  who  are  better 
instructed  and  should  have  more  discretion,  attracted 
by  the  facilities,  if  not  the  mere  novelties  of  a Town 
life,  come  here  from  the  Southern  Counties,  perhaps 
as  soon  as  they  are  manumitted,  and  almost  infallibly 
when  they  become  aged  or  infirm;  but  at  no  time  of 
life,  are  as  provident  as  those  who  have  never  had  any 
other  dependence  than  that  on  their  parents  or  their 
own  labor  and  foresight. 

A view  of  Baltimore  is  best  taken  from  the  Signal 
House,  first  established  by  the  late  Captain  Porter  with 
the  patronage  of  the  Merchants,  on  one  of  the  many 
eminences  within  or  bordering  our  City,  called  Federal 
Hill,  South  of  the  Basin,  to  which  Mr.  Nelson,  with 
the  like  patronage  has  lately  added  a Telegraphic  com- 
munication with  the  Bodkin  Point  forming  the  left  or 
South  side  of  the  entrance  of  the  River  Patapsco  from 
the  Bay,  and  from  which  approaching  ships  are  disco w 
ered  long  before  they  are  to  be  seen  from  the  Signal 
House  itself.  From  this  commanding  position  are  seen 
the  Vessels  in  the  Harbor,  the  remarkable  Edifices  in 
the  City  and  the  handsome  Villas  adjacent  to  it,  all  dis- 
tinctly by  the  naked  eye  as  if  they  lay  at  the  foot  of  the 
observer;  and  delightful  is  the  prospect,  though  a sam- 
ple only  of  Man’s  ingenuity  and  industry.  How  much 
more  must  the  admiration  be  excited  and  the  veneration 
extended  on  turning  the  sight  towards  those  immense 


8129]  ANNALS  OF  BALTIMORE.  293 

White  Rocks  which  seem  to  have  been  carried  many 
miles  beyond  this  Eddy  of  a Basin  and  their  fellows  of 
original  formation,  by  some  tremendous  Eruption  of 
Fire,  Hurricane  of  Wind  or  Deluge  of  Water;  and 
beyond  them  at  certain  seasons,  those  illumined  Balls  of 
day  and  night,  the  Sun  or  Moon,  merging  as  it  were 
from  a Horizon  of  Sea,  the  design,  the  work  of  another 
and  far  different  Intelligence  and  Power!! 

Descending  to  our  Annals, — The  writer  hopes  that, 
whatever  may  be  their  value,  or  however  adapted 
to  Agriculture  or  Manufactures  the  situation  of  Mary- 
land and  the  neighborhood  of  the  City  may  be,  the 
Citizens  will  continue  to  cherish  the  Commercial  Enter- 
prize  to  which  its  rise  is  chiefly  due  and,  as  they  hope 
for  happiness  and  prosperity  too,  they  will  remember 
that,  while  they  triumph  in  the  increase  of  numbers 
they  will  have  to  contend  with  the  usual  growth  of  vice 
in  populous  Cities:  That  Laws  being  made  by  Men 
not  Men  by  Laws,  especially  in  a Republic  where  there 
is  neither  Test  nor  established  Religion,  it  behooves 
them  to  guard  against  the  hypocrisy  of  Avarice  and 
Ambition,  and  seek  their  agents  for  the  Government  of 
the  City  and  elsewhere,  among  those  who  have  some- 
times set  less  value  on  private  than  public  interest. 
And,  with  submission  it  may  be  added,  these  will  be 
found  among  such  only,  as,  believing  their  Works  do 
follow  them,  nor  doubting  that  He  who  made  the 
eye  and  the  ear  will  see  and  hear  what  His  creatures 
may  not,  feel  that  something  may  be  won  or  lost  besides 
wealth  or  fame,  poverty  or  obscurity,  even  here  but 
certainly,  much  more  hereafter. 


The  Population  of  Baltimore  by  the  several  Census. 


790- 

— 13 

503 

1S00 26,514 

1810 46,555, 

1820. 

1830. 

Votes  for  Mayor. 

1st 

Ward 

4,477 

5,433 

496 

2d 

it 

7,512 

9,263 

824 

3d 

«i 

6,548 

9,766 

1050 

4th 

it 

6,645 

8,595 

927 

5th 

a 

3,091 

4,026 

563 

6th 

it 

3,469 

4,146 

552 

7th 

ti 

3,460 

3,937 

458 

8th 

tt 

3,592 

4,937 

595 

9th 

tt 

3,579 

4,686 

537 

10th 

it 

6,119 

7,508 

777 

11th 

tt 

5,882 

6,717 

763 

12th 

tt 

8,364 

11,611 

1175 

62,738 

80,625 

8,717 

The  second  and  third  columns  show  the  increase  general,  and 
the  fourth  column  that,  of  the  whole  population,  more  than  one- 
tenth  are  entitled  to  and  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage. 

The  numbers  in  1830,  classed  by  sex  and  color,  viz: 

Free  White  Males  30,021  Free  White  Females  31,693 

Free  Colored  Males  6,166  Free  Colored  Females  8,622 

Male  Slaves  1,661  Female  Slaves  2,462 


Baltimore  co.  census  40,251  State  of  Md.  ditto  446,913 
Of  which  the  number  represented  in  Congress  is,  405,752. 

The  Houses  in  the  City  in  1829,  were: — one  story,  1,466; 
two  stories,  8,189;  three  or  more  stories,  2,143;  total,  12,798, 
of  which  above  10,000  are  of  brick. 

Paupers  relieved,  monthly  City  average  409 
“ “ County  “ 47 

Strangers  “ “ 67 

Aggregate  expense,  including  Pensions  of  156  persons,  $27  33 
cents  per  head. 

The  number  of  Marriage  Licences,  City  and  County,  909; 
but  it  does  not  include  all  the  marriages,  since  it  is  still  lawful  to 
marry  by  publication  of  banns,  and  the  colored  people,  bond  and 
free,  are  married  without  either  formality. 

Interments. — Males  985  Females  864  Total  1849;  includ- 
ing Colored,  529;  or  429  Free,  and  100  Slaves;  of  whom  there 
were  also  under  21  years,  993;  above  70,  106. 


Revenue  of  the  City  of  Baltimore,  from  Taxes,  Rents,  Auctions,  Licences,  fines,  &c.  from  its  Incorporation 

in  gross,  annually. 


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Wheat  Flour  Inspected  since  the  Incorporation  of  the  City . 


Yrs. 

Bbls. 

1-2  Bbls. 

Yrs. 

Bbls. 

1-a  Bbls. 

1798 

247,046 

17,612 

1815 

381,580 

13,525 

1799 

264,211 

18,639 

1816 

387,780 

14,392 

1800 

265,797 

15,227 

1817 

392,676 

12,215 

1801 

349,749 

19,604 

1818 

434,865 

19,052 

1802 

358,705 

21,857 

1819 

454,469 

22,468 

1803 

396,178 

21,060 

1820 

570,551 

23,004 

1804 

255,232 

11,223 

1821 

469,920 

27,766 

1805 

326,988 

17,007 

1822 

413,231 

33,461 

1806 

342,425 

16,698 

1823 

427,366 

30,204 

1807 

479,429 

21,542 

1824 

529,568 

30,664 

1808 

255,191 

5,984 

1825 

497,311 

25,510 

1809 

413,169 

20,219 

1826 

583,671 

25,355 

1810 

354,259 

19,392 

1827 

561,259 

22,921 

1811 

516,269 

27,566 

1828 

537,010 

18,882 

1812 

537,988 

29,423 

1829 

466,144 

15.149 

1813 

285,466 

11,854 

1830 

587,875 

19,865 

1814 

154,816 

2,699 

Other  Inspections , from  1811  to  1823,  inclusive . 


Yrs. 

Pork. 

bbls. 

Beef. 

bbls. 

Herrings. 

bbls. 

Shad.  Lard, 

bbls.  kegs  & casks 

Butter. 

kegs. 

Domestic  Spts. 
galls. 

1811 

10,847 

2,364 

33,711 

5,338 

5,070 

3,437 

985,941 

1812 

6,590 

5,386 

43,096 

5,556 

5,362 

2,439 

977,031 

1813 

2,722 

1,898 

23,118 

2,706 

2,626 

1,872 

788,139 

1814 

3,488 

902 

18,903 

2,907 

1,461 

1,539 

726,099 

1815 

3,970 

4,284 

25,401 

3,861 

5,465 

5,305 

767,910 

1816 

8,477 

3,315 

45,799 

5,950 

3,933 

6.677 

994,581 

1817 

7,776 

6,631 

51,353 

6,379 

5,105 

7j374 

954,460 

1818 

14,836 

4,605 

56,452 

7,028 

4,686 

3,504 

1,545,720 

1819 

8,746 

4,529 

61,365 

11,672 

6,823 

4,798 

1,487,052 

1820 

8,685 

5,001 

41,452 

7,658 

6,130 

5,410 

1,427,796 

1821 

12,964 

4,458 

46,663 

8,771 

5,229 

1,641 

1,399,647 

1822 

9,992 

2,379 

36,526 

6,595 

15,101 

7,302 

1,578,030 

1823 

7,374 

2,709 

47,222 

6,862 

9,027 

8,502 

1,046,442 

Corrected  Summary  Statement  of  the  Water  Power  to  drive  Machinery,  within  the  circumference  of  a circle  of 

twenty  miles  radius  around  the  City  of  Baltimore . 

By  Lewis  Brantz,  Esq. 

Names  of  the  Streams  | Within  10  miles  of  Baltimore  | Beyond  10  and  within  20  miles  of  Balt.  | 


Total  power 
of  the  streams 
within  twenty 
miles  expressed 
in  spindles. 

0000000000 
0000000000 
©.©©„©©©  0,0  0,0, 
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Aggregate  capacity  of  the  stream 
expressed  in 

*J9AiO & 9SJ0JJ 

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C5  oj  cm  so  wow 

«>  Ot  to  to 

of 

XjauiqoBOJ  juepuaddB  oqj 
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339.000 

484.000 
82,000 

6,000 

50,000 

104.000 

106.000 

| 971,000 

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— CM  Ct  HHW  1 

Aggregate  capacity  of  the  stream 
expressed  in 

uoaioj  9SJ0JJ 

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CO  CO  CO  cm  to  C* 

t-  CO  ^ to 

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£i9mqoBtn  juBpaaddB  oqj 
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352.000 
66,000 

86,000 

124.000 
10,000 

4,000 

0 

0 

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11  « 

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2 “ 

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•j99j  ui  jjbj  jo  janoniB  jbjoj, 

CO  CO  05  (M  O CD 

C5  CO  to  t—  to  O 

iH  CtCOHH 

/ 

Patapsco  Falls,  - - - - 
Great  Gunpowder  Falls, 
Little  Gunpowder  Falls, 
Jones’  Falls,  ----- 

Herring  Run, 

Union  Run,  ----- 

Winter’s  Run, 

Patuxent,  West  Branch,  - 
Patuxent,  North  Branch,  - 

|Totals. 

•99U9Jaj9H  jo  -60^ 

HCtCOHiOIOt-00  05  0 

Stock  of  Maryland  in  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail 

Road  Company,  $500,000  00 

of  which  150,000  is  paid. 

Ditto  do.  in  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal  Co.  500,000  00 
Ditto  do.  “ “ deferred  paid  174,494  44 

Ditto  do.  in  Baltimore  and  Susquehannah  Rail 

Road  Company,  100,000  00 

Ditto  do.  in  Chesapeake  & Delaware  Canal  Co.  paid  50,000  00 
Ditto  do.  in  Baltimore  and  Frederick  Turnpike  Co.  10,000  00 
Ditto  do.  in  Baltimore  and  York  Turnpike  Co.  5,000  00 
Ditto  do.  in  Union  Manufacturing  Co.  10,000  00 

Ditto  do.  in  Bank  of  Baltimore  174,000  00 

Ditto  do.  in  Mechanics’  Bank  46,000  00 

Ditto  do.  in  Union  Bank  of  Maryland  31,000  00 

Ditto  do.  in  Commercial  & Farmers’  Bank  of  Balt.  26,666  66 

Ditto  do.  in  Farmers’  &>  Merchants’  Bank  of  Balt.  15,000  00 

Ditto  do.  in  Franklin  Bank  of  Balt.  15,000  00 

Ditto  do.  in  Marine  Bank  of  Balt.  10,000  00 


Maryland  it  is  stated,  has  Expended  in  Baltimore, 


on  the  Hospital 

50,400  00 

Ditto 

do. 

University 

45,500  00 

Ditto 

do. 

Penitentiary 

184.538  00 

Ditto 

do. 

Tobacco Warehousesl70, 000  00 

The  Treasurer  of  the  Western  Shore  received,  from  December 
1st  1829,  to  December  1st  1830. 

From  Auctions  34,010  00  Lotteries  18,437  00 

Tobacco  Inspection  27,601  00  Dividends  of  Banks  31,283  00 

Ordinary  Licences  23,000  00  Marriage  Licences  7,066  00 

Traders’  Licences  18,368  00  Wharfage  1,561  00 

Fines  &,  Forfeitures  4,293  00 

Total  165,712  of  which  at  least  7-8  or  144,998  from  Baltimore. 
1829  Imports, 

Exports,  American  produce  in 

American  Ships  3,136,053 

Ditto  Foreign  ditto  425,401 

Do.  Foreign  produce  in  Am.  Ships  895,978 
Do.  do.  in  Foreign  do.  81,676 


4,128,271 
| 3,561,454 

| 977,654 


3 

vr 


1830  Balance  of  Permanent  Registered  Tonnage 
11  Temporary  do.  do. 

11  Enrolled  do.  do. 

" Licences  under  20  tons  do. 

" Enrolled  Steam  Vessels  do. 

Vessels,  American  and  Foreign  cleared  for  abroad  313 
Hospital  Money  2,948 


4,539,108 
27,629 
4,953 
12,767 
398 
4,861 


9T 

« 

fi 

65 


The  Export  of  Pot  and  Pearl  Ashes  is  very  irregular,  some  years  none,  and  not  exceeding  50  Tons  in  any. 


Annual  Receipts  into  the  Treasury  from 
Baltimore  for  14  years. 

the 

Post  Office  of 

1817 

- 43,183  43* 

1824 

_ 

36,069  38 

1818 

45,377  66* 

1825 

. 

40,036  48 

1819 

43,541  47 

1826 

. 

41,703  30* 

1820 

36,201  03 

1827 

. 

43,038  67* 

1821 

33,402  74 

1828 

. 

45,382  25^ 

1822 

35,166  66* 

1829 

. 

46,795  795 

1823 

34,924  30 

1830 

- 

48,374  18 

Principal 

Expenditures  of  the  United  Slates  at  or  for  Baltimore, 

being  for  the  following  objects. 


Fort  M’Henrv,  on  Patapsco  - 
Lazaretto,  opposite  the  Fort  - 
Arsenal  at  Pikeville  - 

Custom  House  - 

Frigate  Constellation,  Ordinance,  &c.  - 

“ Insurgente,  repaired  ... 

Sloop  Baltimore  - 

“ Montezuma  - 
“ Maryland  - 

“ Patapsco  - 

Frigate  Java  ....  (say) 

Sloop  Ontario  - - - “ 

“ Erie 

Cutters,  Gun  Boats  and  Flotillas  (estimate)  - “ 

Light  Houses  at  North  Point  (2  towers)  Bodkin,  Pool’s  Island 
(with  a bell)  Thomas’  and  Cove  Points,  Smith’s  Island, 
and  Floating  Light  at  Hooper’s  Straights,  & Buoys  (say)  70,000  00 
Surveys  of  Harbor,  Roads  and  Canals  - - (say)  15,000  00 

Annual  expense  of  repairs  and  Artillery-men  at  Fort  and  Ar- 
senal (per  estimate)  . - - 35,000  00 

Seamen  at  Float  Light,  repairing  and  furnishing  Lights,  in- 
cluding Salaries  of  Keepers  - 10,000  00 

Seamen  (say  1830,  35)  at  Hospital  - 3,929  00 

Revenue  Cutter,  Repairs  and  Crew  - - (say)  10,000  00 

Cordage,  Canvass,  Copper,  Bread,  Whiskey,  and  other  stores 

bought  for  the  Army  or  Navy  - 60,000  00 

Mail  Carriages,  per  contracts,  estimated  at  the  amount  of  the 
payments  to  the  Treasury  from  the  Post  Office  of  Bal- 
timore, for  1830  - - - 48,374  00 

Revolutionary  and  other  Pensioners  paid  in  the  same  year  (say)  21,500  00 

How  far  the  expenditures  of  the  United  States  on  the  great  West  Road, 
called  the  Cumberland  Road,  and  on  the  Canals  leading  in  and  out  of  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  may  be  useful  to  Baltimore,  is  not  now  susceptible  of  cal- 
culation, and  may  ever  remain  wholly  conjectural. 


131.000  00 
11,600  00 
80,000  00 
70,000  00 

314,212  00 
53,480  00 
56,277  00 
55,732  00 

70.000  00 
73,104  00 

275.000  00 

75.000  00 
75,000  00 

200.000  00 


. I 


" . . 

■ 

' 


* 


* 


1 


7«0  OOSV 


* 


V 


/ 


* 


V- 


DATE  DUE 


NO  V 2 

> 2009 

NOV  2 9 

2009 

UNIVERSITY  PRODUCTS,  INC.  #859-5503 


BOSTON  COLLEGE 


